The Amazingly Different Race
by Oh-no-she-di'ent
Summary: In competition, they say that winning isn't everything. We, here, laugh at that. We laugh long and we laugh hard. If you like yourself some Luke and Lorelai, you might consider checking this one out! Set AU Season 3. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer**_: _I'm still on the outside looking in._

Hello, all! New story here. Unfortunately, though, this story is not yet complete. When I thought of this last June, I didn't see it as a huge one-shot. It's something about the flow. Anyway, it has parts--ones that will be added as quickly as I can get them out there. I'll be working daily until it's complete. I've set aside time for this, so I promise updates will be quick. It'll make your head spin. I'll post at BWR when the entire thing is finished because I really don't feel like dealing with the tags right now lol.

I'm sure many of you have heard of The Amazing Race. I watched a re-run of an old season a few years back, but that's about it. My idea all those months ago had GG coming together with that reality show. Does the idea sound farfetched? Crazy? Well, it's not too crazy. It's actually a watered down version of the show. No cameras, no TV hosts, no million dollar cash prizes. Just Stars Hollow, a few neighboring towns, some fun and unique contests, bragging rights, a trophy, and some other stuff. And it all starts with Lorelai looking for a partner. Where, oh, where will she turn?!?!

The format will be different. I'm not re-creating Amazing Race here. It's just based off of it. Check the title!

It takes place in AU Season 3. Note the M rating (which is intended for later chapters). Enjoy the read. Btw, _I missed you guys_!!! :)

**The Amazingly Different Race**

Lorelai walked through the square at a quickened pace. Since Rory had already left for school, she was headed to Luke's alone. Her body needed coffee _bad_, but on this day, that need was second in line. She had an objective, and surprisingly, coffee just wasn't it. The tip of her finger was in her mouth, and her poor nail was being mercilessly misshapen by the fronts of her teeth.

"Lorelai, dear?"

Lorelai spun around at the sound of Miss Patty's voice. She lowered her finger from her mouth and smiled as the older lady glided up to her.

"Hey Patty," she greeted. "Shouldn't you be teaching dance class? I'm pretty sure if the teachers start ditching, that'll freeze the appeal."

Patty laid her hand over her chest and laughed heartily. "No, no, dear. Class is in session as we speak." She waved toward the dance studio where tiny ballerinas sat on the floor stretching their little limbs. "We were just starting warm-ups when I saw you walking by. Where are you off to in such a hurry?" she inquired.

Lorelai pointed down the sidewalk. _Luke's_ was within eyeshot. "Do you even have to ask?" she questioned knowingly. Then, her eyes rolled back. "Well, yeah, I guess you do since you did," she said to herself. Patty chuckled, and Lorelai smiled. "I'm headed to _Luke's_," she answered directly. "Caffeine is calling my name."

A mischievous look appeared on Miss Patty's face. "Well, personally, if I were going to see a man like Luke, the last thing I'd be focused on is _caffeine_ screaming my name."

Lorelai shook her head and smiled at the woman's impish remark, none of which surprised her anymore. "_Calling_, Patty. Calling, not screaming. It takes away the dirty."

She shrugged. "Calling, screaming…as long as it's my name coming from a gorgeous man's lips, you can consider me a happy lady."

Lorelai gasped as if shock was really what she felt. "Not on the _sidewalk_, Patty!" she admonished.

Patty chortled. "Sorry." She fanned herself. "Sometimes I just can't help myself. You mention a man like Luke, and--"

"You get all hot and bothered, huh?" Lorelai offered.

"Whew." Patty continued to fan. "Damn this libido of mine." She took another breath and continued on. "Anyway, honey, I ran out here to ask you about the contest."

Even the simple mention of the town's newest and greatest event brought a massive smile to Lorelai's face. Her brows raised like Miss Patty had uttered the key word to her attention.

"What about it?" she asked with intrigue.

Patty's hands went to her full hips. "Have you found a partner yet?"

Lorelai's eyes went wide. "Uh…no." She smiled, not entirely hiding her sudden unease.

Patty saw through her immediately. She laughed, showing that she wasn't the least bit put off. "Not to worry, honey, I'm not asking for me. My youth and I parted ways long ago, and I'd just slow you down. I'm definitely sitting this one out."

Lorelai's eyes fell. She felt silly and a little insensitive for her previous thought. Though she loved Patty dearly, when it came to contests, she was cut-throat. She needed and accepted no less than the best of the best.

She made an effort to sweep away nonexistent tension. "Well…uh, I hear what you're saying there. My youth tries to sneak away from me _daily_. You just have to learn the art of the tackle."

Patty touched a hand to Lorelai's arm. "I actually have an idea of someone you can partner up with."

"Oh, yeah?" Lorelai asked with interest. "Who might that be?"

She removed her hand and took a deep breath. "Now, I want you to hear me out."

"Oh god."

"What?"

"Come on, Patty, nothing good ever starts with 'I want you to hear me out'."

Patty reeled in laughter. "Some things do, dear." She raised a brow at Lorelai's obvious show of doubt. She went on, speaking quickly. "Just maybe not in this case. It's Kirk," she ended.

There was a pause. "Kirk who? Because you can't possibly mean the one that still needs someone to cut up his dinner meat."

She smiled. "I know what you're thinking."

Lorelai sighed heavily and folded her arms. "Kirk, Patty?" she asked exhaustedly. "_Kirk_?!"

Patty relaxed and acceded to both the tone and the look that Lorelai was giving her. "Okay, that's a _no_. It's okay. But I tried. Just remember, if he asks you, don't forget to tell him I tried!" she said with rising desperation.

Lorelai chuckled. "You sound a little crazed there," she mentioned.

Patty rolled her eyes. "He's been driving me crazy. He wanted to ask you himself, but he figured you'd turn him down. Every since Taylor announced this insane contest a few days ago, he's been hounding me to talk to you. For some reason, he thought he'd have a better shot by going through me."

Lorelai shook her head. "Well, while Kirk is quite the competitor, I don't think he has what it takes to be on Team Lorelai. Only two teams from each town will make the cut, and even if Kirk was able to get us through, it wouldn't look good if halfway through the race, I wanted to injure my own partner." Her lip went out sadly. "Tell him I'm sorry though, okay?"

Patty nodded. "No harm. At least I tried. Besides, he'll bounce back. He said that if you said _no_, he'd make you regret it for the rest of your life. Or at least the next few weeks."

Lorelai frowned. "He said what?"

"Oh, yeah," Patty continued, "he said he'd find another partner—one better than you—make the cut, then beat you so badly that you'd be begging for his forgiveness in the end."

She scoffed. "Well, obviously Kirk has been sniffing his mother's make-up powder again." She jabbed her finger at Patty like she was Kirk. "_He's_ the one that's going to get beat. Him and every other person that has the guts to go up against me. They'll all feel my wrath!"

Patty only laughed, underestimating Lorelai's competitive nature. "Do you have a partner in mind?" she asked.

Lorelai glanced over at the diner then back at Patty. "Sure do!" she answered with a bright smile.

"Really? Who is it?"

"I have to get him to agree first. And he _will_ agree," she added in confidence.

Patty smiled. "Luke, huh?" she determined.

"No," she said unconvincingly.

Patty guffawed. "Oh, honey, please. The way you were butchering your nails just a minute ago—you're going to attempt to do the impossible. Everyone in town would love to have the former track champion on their team. Even Kirk. He asked him himself during the actual announcement of this race."

Lorelai gasped. "I thought you said I was his first choice! You mean I was second fiddle?"

Patty stuttered. "Uh u-well…Luke turned him down fast, and you've been first on the list since then."

"Ugh, Kirk is so going down."

Patty looked past Lorelai to the diner. "You know, if anyone has a chance of getting Mr. Antisocial to participate in this whole thing, it would definitely be you."

Lorelai smiled. She needed that reassurance because Luke was far from easy.

"You really think so?" she asked graciously.

Patty nodded with resolution. "Of course I do, Sweetheart." She looked at her warmly for a moment before speaking. "You do have a back-up plan, don't you?"

Lorelai chuckled and shook her head. She narrowed her eyes playfully. "_Bye_, Patty. I'll see you later."

"Okay, dear. Good luck."

"Thanks."

They both turned and walked away. Lorelai's nail went back inside of her mouth.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Luuuuuke!"

"Lorelai, you're giving me a headache."

Lorelai grasped Luke's bicep with both hands and turned him. "Stop and talk to me," she said at the same time.

They met eyes, and Lorelai saw nothing but pure irritation. "What do you want?"

"I want you to consider what I'm saying," she answered. She came to stand in his face. "I asked you yesterday in the diner, and you said no. I ask you again today, and you _still_ say no. You keep saying no, and I want to respect that. I really, really do!"

He sighed. "Then, why won't you?"

"Because I need you!" she whined.

Luke turned with an eye roll and continued down the aisle at _Doose's_ market. He reached for various items and placed them in his basket one by one. Lorelai followed behind him with nothing in her own hand. "You don't need me," he replied calmly without turning. He continued on to the next aisle and kept moving. "This thing is five days away. You have plenty of time to find somebody else," he rationalized.

"No, actually I don't because--"

"Besides," he interrupted, "You know I don't participate in this kinda stuff. I never have, and I'm not about to start now."

Lorelai hurried to his front. Her hand went out in front of her as a stop sign. He stopped walking. She dropped both hands onto her hips. "Fine," she said casually.

"Fine what?"

"Fine if you don't want to be my partner. It's your prerogative, and I guess I'll have to deal with that." Luke's eyes scanned hers. He waited on her to continue because he knew for a fact there was more. "So _what_ if I don't find a partner? It's only my happiness on the line here. I mean, we're only talking about a few weeks of depression. Tops. I'll possibly be okay by Easter. This competition means the world to me, but who gives a crap about my feelings, right _Luke_?" she ended pointedly.

"Are you kidding me with this?" he asked.

"No."

"Yes, you are. You've _got_ to be kidding. It's only a stupid competition! You can't brow-beat me into doing this with you!" he exclaimed in defense. "We're friends, and you know I care about your feelings. I'm not going to get suckered into running a race I _do not_ want to run to prove that!"

She rolled her eyes. "You're overreacting," she mentioned casually.

"What if I asked you to enter some kind of a fishing contest? Would you do that out of _friendship_?" he asked mockingly. As he finished the question, he saw the answer blinding him, completely obliterating his point. Lorelai answered his question honestly.

"Well, I wouldn't want to. I'd even have questions as to why you'd think it'd _benefit_ you to have me on your team. That'd be a really bad decision on your part. I'd bitch and moan and complain until the sun went down, but ultimately, if it meant something to you, I'd be there. I'd show how much you meant to me by participating in the disgusting thing." Luke rolled his eyes and scowled at the canned goods. He wished she was lying, but he knew she was telling the God-honest truth. She'd definitely show up for him. "_Especially_," she added, "if the prize was a trophy as big as the one they're going to have for this!"

He shook his head. "Okay, that was a stupid example. I…" His voice faded.

Lorelai leaned in. "How was that a stupid example? Do you not believe me?"

His eyes rolled over to meet hers. "I believe you," he submitted quietly.

Her eyes were wide. "Okay, good. So, where does that leave us?"

He opened and closed his mouth, getting more aggravated. "Lorelai, why are you hounding me about this?" he finally asked. "There are more people in this town. People who actually have plans to participate in this whole thing. Pick one of them!"

Nobody else could ever get Luke to this place. Usually a simple 'no' and 'go to hell' were all they'd get from him. No apologies, no regrets. No matter how much they begged, they got none of that. When he had turned Kirk down, that was a prime example. But Lorelai got the whole show. Time after time, he'd go back and forth with her--trying to get her to understand and giving her _way_ more time and energy than he usually gave to anyone.

Her voice was quiet and she pouted. "Luke."

"Oh jeez." He turned attention away from the look.

"Why are you so dead-set against doing this?" she wanted to know.

"Because Taylor's in on it," he answered resolutely. "That's reason enough for me."

"Forget Taylor," she said moving in closer and locking her eyes on his. "Do this for me. _Please_, Luke. You're who I want."

"Why? Why me?"

"Because." She felt his questions were leading to breaks in his resistance. "Number one, I can take being around you for long periods of time. I don't mind it at all," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "And number two…" She gestured at him. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Red came across his face. "You're in great shape," she continued. She clasped her hands together and looked up at him pleadingly. "I need you on Team Lorelai, Luke. We—you and me together—can make the cut. Please, _please_ do this for me!"

"Team Lorelai?" he questioned.

She nodded. "Yeah, catchy huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not joining a _Team Lorelai_."

She smiled. "Well, if it bothers you, we can change it. But you'd have to be on the team first to have a say-so in the name," she wheedled.

His jaw clenched as he looked down to the floor. Lorelai smiled wider and dipped down to catch his eyes. She knew he was about cave. Or she _hoped_ so with all of her heart. "Luke?"

He met her eyes.

She looked at him with so much hope. "Are you in?" she asked shyly.

Before he could answer, his attention was going to Kirk who had come up beside them with a rude and smug, "Well, well, well. If it isn't Lorelai Gilmore."

Lorelai took a deep breath and smiled in courtesy. "Hey Kirk. How are you today?"

"I'm fine. I'm more than fine actually. I'm _fantastic_. And do you know why, Lorelai Gilmore?"

"Why is that, Kirk?" she asked, her smile growing tighter.

"The reason I am fantastic, Lorelai Gilmore, is because since you turned me down cold—both of you, in fact," he corrected as he pointed between Luke and Lorelai, "I have gotten Marla Faulkenberry as my partner."

Luke and Lorelai exchanged a bored look.

"Do you know who Marla Faulkenberry is, Lorelai Gilmore?"

"You don't have to keep calling me by my full name, Kirk. And no, I don't know who that is."

"Arm wrestling champ," he boasted. "Arm wrestler extraordinaire. She beat the three Benson brothers back in '99, combined time: one minute forty-three seconds. Complete shut-out!"

Lorelai nodded, unimpressed. "How old is Marla?"

Kirk hesitated. "Why?"

"Because the oldest of the Benson boys is 19, so four years ago, he was 15. I'm just curious to know the age of the lady who beat three kids in an arm wrestling game."

"That's not important."

"Are you partnering up with a child, Kirk?"

He got defensive. "Of course not." He paused. "In fact, she has a child…who has a child…who's pregnant."

"She's a great-grandmother?!"

"But she still looks great! She's got Tina Turner legs…not that I was looking. Because I wasn't. Somebody else…who saw her legs passed the information along to me, and they told me that she has great looking stems."

"_Stems_?" Lorelai questioned.

He leaned in. "Can I get away with saying that?" he asked quietly.

"No," Luke chimed in.

Kirk nodded sadly. "Okay."

"So, let me get this straight," Lorelai began, "You're going to partner up with a _great-grandmother_ who brags about beating little children at physical games?"

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds bad!"

"How else can I say it, Kirk?"

"Listen, I didn't come in here for this," he said with a cracking voice. "I saw you in here, and I just came to say that I'm bringing my A game to that race."

"_If_ you make the cut," she added.

"_When_ I make the cut," he disputed. She didn't say anything additional, so he went on. "You're going down, Lorelai Gilmore!" Lorelai nodded airily. He went on. "That's if you bother to show up at all. The race is five days away, and partner sign-up is due in by five today." He smiled cockily. "I heard you don't even have a partner yet. Bet you wish you wouldn't have turned a certain _somebody_ down, don't you?"

She shrugged lightly.

Kirk leaned in and whispered. "You know, if you want to change your mind, I can just tell Marla that I can't--"

"I'm not changing my mind, Kirk," Lorelai interrupted calmly.

"Good!" he said quickly, regaining his previous volume. "Because I was just testing you! And-and you passed!" He paused and moved his eyes from Luke to Lorelai uneasily. "So, good!" There was an uncomfortable pause that neither Luke nor Lorelai bothered to save him from. They just looked at him like he was the feature show.

He got his cocky attitude back and snickered. "Good luck finding a partner, Lorelai Gilmore. You're going to need it in the--" He looked at his watch, "three hours and eight minutes that you have left." He pointed at Luke. "Be prepared to serve her lots of pity coffee." He laughed his way out of the store.

Lorelai rolled her eyes away from the door. "You know, at this moment, I'd rather have another town's team win than have Kirk win for Stars Hollow. How awful is that?"

Luke sighed. "It's pretty awful," he answered.

She took a breath and smiled at Luke sadly. "Okay, I have to go recruit a suitable partner. I'll see you later, Luke." She turned to leave, suddenly feeling that it was time to stop harassing someone who had no desire to participate and instead, get someone else while she still had time.

"Hey, this is really important to you, isn't it?" Luke called out.

Lorelai stopped and faced him. "What?" she asked in exhaustion. Her mind was somewhere else entirely and she hadn't heard him.

Luke lifted his chin toward the door. "Go sign us up. I'm in."

She definitely heard that. She walked back over to him cautiously. "Are you serious? You're not joking, are you? Because I'm here to tell you, buddy, that this is not even remotely close to being acceptable humor right now."

He smiled a little. "I wouldn't dare joke about something like this."

Her lips started to spread, and she kept inching toward him vigilantly. "So, you're in this?"

He rolled his eyes at the thought of what he'd agreed to. "I'm in this," he answered.

Her smile went out of control. "I'm coming over there, Luke. When I get over there and give you this hug which is so unbelievably warranted right now, that's going to be our contract. If you back out…" She paused, "…well, I won't be able to do much, but I will be incredibly hurt and…_please_ don't change your mind, okay?"

He watched her approach, and he shook his head amusedly. "I'm a man of my word," he assured.

She reached him in that moment, and she lifted her arms and hugged his neck. He wasn't expecting the strength of the embrace. His eyes widened momentarily in shock before his one free hand secured her waist.

"Thank you _so_ much," she whispered near his ear.

He'd never had her that close before. Electricity coursed the length of his spine. And her slight shudder made it clear that she'd felt it too.

"Uh, yeah, you're welcome," Luke said after he'd cleared his throat.

She pulled away in the next moment, and they offered mild, uncomfortable smiles.

Both of Lorelai's hands went to her heart, and her smile turned easy and anything but mild. "Thank you, Luke," she said again. "This means a lot to me."

He rolled his eyes like he was unaffected. "Yeah, yeah," he dismissed. "Just go sign us up while there's still time."

She backed away with a grin. Luke chuckled when she squealed and ran from the store in excitement.

He finished getting his groceries and went to the checkout counter.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Woooow."

"Yeah." Lorelai beamed.

"I can't believe you did it, Mom. You made the cut. And what's more--the most shocking thing to _me_--is that you actually got Luke to participate in the race. That's still blowing my mind."

Lorelai slid her sock-covered feet along the wooden floor of her home. Her clumsy skating venture ended fast when she stubbed her toe on the edge of the table. She sat down next to Rory and rubbed her injury.

"Yeah, I know," she said, grimacing at the pain. "It wasn't an easy feat, lemme tell ya."

Rory smiled. "I had my doubts, but I'm glad you succeeded in landing Mr. All Star. You can probably even _win_ now."

Lorelai nodded happily. "Yeah, I don't know why it took so long for me to--" She stopped abruptly and looked at Rory. "Wait, wait, what do you mean I can '_probably_ win now'?"

Rory was snacking on some Mac 'n' cheese. She looked over at Lorelai with wide eyes as she brought the fork from her mouth. "Hm?" she asked innocently.

Lorelai frowned. "You didn't think I had a shot without Luke?"

There was a pause that lasted a little too long for comfort. "No," she finally answered unimpressively. Another lengthy pause followed. "That's not what I'm saying at all, Mom."

Lorelai's eyes rolled back slowly. "Ooohhh man, Rory, you are a _horrible_ liar!" With the pain finally gone from her toe, she crossed her legs. "Which is good," she added, still perturbed. "I want you to be a horrible liar. That'll ensure you won't do it. Your nose is cute just the way it is." She sighed with tingeing irritation and looked over at her daughter. "Now, tell me, honey. Are you calling Mommy incompetent?"

Rory set her bowl down on the coffee table. "Well, not incompetent," she answered quietly. "You're just not physically…able to perform…much."

"So, I'm what's eating Gilbert Grape?"

Rory smiled, and jumped on the opportunity for a compliment. "Now, you're definitely not that bad. You're at least mobile."

Lorelai dropped her head to the back of the couch. "Jeez, Rory."

"What's wrong?"

Lorelai lifted her head and looked at her. "Other than my kid not having faith in me? Nothing at all!"

Rory scooted closer. "I have faith in you, Mom. I always have faith in you. It's just that this competition is going to be really _really_ physical. It's a _week-long_ physical race. They'll run and compete and do a lot of stuff that you never do. Don't get me wrong, you _look_ great. A stranger can look at you and be under the impression that you work out constantly. But I, someone who knows, loves and lives with you, know that the mere thought of physical exertion scares you more than the possibility of turning into Grandma."

"Unh unh, Sweets, just for the record, the Grandma thing is at the top of that list. Nothing will ever be close enough to reach it."

"Okay, fair enough. But you have to get where I'm coming from."

She sighed. "I _possibly_ get where you're coming from."

"Possibly?" Rory asked knowingly.

"That's all you're gonna get!" Lorelai said loudly, unwilling to make herself look any worse.

Rory laughed and laid her head on her mom's arm. "It's okay, though Mom. You have Luke now. Everything will be fine."

Lorelai shook her head. "All this time, I was trying not to pick anyone who I felt may be a weak link, and it was me. I was the weak link! This is so disheartening."

"It's not too bad."

"In all fairness though, this isn't the big leagues we're playing in here. We're not going to be racing across countries on scooters. It's Stars Hollow, Woodbridge, Litchfield, and Woodsbury doing sack potato races in cornfields."

"You don't know that. You don't know what's involved. Taylor was very adamant about keeping a tight lid on contest details. For all you know, they could begin the race, and three hours later, you could be somewhere in Chicago."

"Ooh, yum. I hear their pizza rules!" Lorelai exclaimed, causing Rory to chuckle. Lorelai kissed her temple and ran a hand through her hair. "Well, one thing I do know is there will be no Chicago or any other great pizza cities. It's gonna be local. Nothing extravagant. That's gotta be in my favor a little bit, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. You _may_ have a chance," she added playfully.

Lorelai shook her head, looking ahead to the TV. She sighed. "I guess I better do a push-up or two, huh?"

She felt Rory's head nod. "…or three or four or five or--"

"Hey!" Lorelai started tickling her, and Rory laughed giddily.

"—or ten or twenty…"

"Ten or twenty _this_!" she said tickling her even harder. Rory turned deep red as she continued to laugh. They rolled to the floor.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai came to a stop outside of Luke's diner.

She wore an old pair of blue jeans, some Nikes, and a hoodie. Her hair was down, and a coffee thermos was in her hand.

She'd gone out and purchased a large backpack for her clothes and other supplies. It was in the backseat, pushed to one side so there would be room for Luke's backpack as well.

Before she could get out of the jeep, she saw Luke emerge from the diner. Caesar was behind him. His lips were moving, so she assumed he was giving his second-hand man last minute instructions on running the diner in his absence. Luke stopped when he made it outside. He turned toward Caesar who stood in the doorway nodding dutifully to whatever he was being told.

Lorelai sipped from her thermos as she took in Luke's attire. He wore silver running pants with an all white Nike shirt. A simple jacket was over that. He had on his blue cap and sneakers, also Nikes. She couldn't ever remember seeing him in anything other than his flannel and on rare occasions, his dressier bank ensemble.

But now, he looked extremely casual. He looked really really…not bad. Very sporty. He was turned to the side with his backpack under his arm instead of on his back. She was very aware of where her eyes were. She had often joked with him about his spectacular backside, but the man really did have an ass of champions.

A car horn beeped, and Lorelai's eyes were still glued to Luke's show-stopping rear. The horn beeped again, and she looked out of her window, only to see Mrs. Gleason's car passing by. Kirk was on his way to the starting point in his mother's car. She still couldn't believe that he had managed to make the cut. Him and his 60-year old partner. Lorelai mumbled under her breath her displeasure at having Kirk beat her to Hartford Park, which is where the event was to jump off. She didn't want him to arrive _anywhere_ before her. Not even the starting point. She hoped there was traffic on the freeway. That'd give her some time back.

She turned back toward the diner only to see Luke heading over to the jeep. She smiled at him through the windshield, and to her delight, he gave her a tiny smile in return.

He opened the door.

"Hey!" Lorelai greeted cheerfully. "How are you on this early, early, Monday morning?"

He pulled up the seat and placed his backpack next to Lorelai's. "It's almost lunchtime," he pointed out.

"Not when you go to bed at four in the morning, it's not."

"Why'd you go to sleep so late?" He pushed the seat back and adjusted it.

"I had to pack," she explained. "This is probably the first time in my life that I was _this_ limited on the amount of things I could bring. Bringing a crapload of stuff would have only hurt me since I have to carry it around everywhere."

"Exactly. I'm glad you realized that," Luke added. He climbed inside and started adjusting his seat some more. "So, Rory's going to pick up the jeep when she gets out of school?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's gonna take the bus over to the park."

He nodded. "Good."

Lorelai smiled at him. Her eyes went low as she watched him get situated. She smiled more and looked back into his face. "I like those pants."

He fastened his seatbelt. "But?" he asked leadingly.

She laughed. "I'm serious. I like them. No but. Well, actually, there _is_ a butt, which is kinda why I'm admiring them." She winked at him as his eyes rose to hers. "But that's another story for another time. We'll have to talk about your scrumptious rumptious later," she ended glowingly.

Luke continued to stare at her. "Did you just compliment my ass?" he asked dully.

Lorelai cranked up the jeep. "Twice," she said holding up two fingers.

He nodded and looked out his window. "Thought so."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the first annual Competition of the Towns event!"

Almost two hundred people applauded and cheered, creating the sound of a stadium-like roar in the large parking lot.

Taylor was the man behind the microphone, and he waited patiently until every last soul had quieted down before he continued on.

"As I look around this afternoon, I see all of the people who have come out to show support for their respective town!" More cheering followed. "I would like to point out—very proudly, of course--that half of the attendees are Stars Hollow citizens!" he beamed. That brought on even more screaming than when the entire crowd was making noise. The pandemonium died down very slowly, as many people just couldn't let go of the pride-filled boasting. Taylor allowed it for longer than anyone would have imagined.

"What do you say we get this event up off the ground, huh?"

Screams, cheers, and mayhem gave him his answer.

"I'm going to turn the microphone over to Litchfield spokesperson, Mrs. Dana Hopper," he concluded. Courteous applause rang out, along with a small section of people cheering for their town's representative.

Lorelai peeked out of the window of the park's recreation center.

She scoped out the people for about the fifth time in two minutes.

Turning back toward Luke, she began her anxious pace once again. "I feel like a celebrity. Don't you feel like a celebrity, Luke?"

He stood a few feet away from the window, his arms folded casually. "Nope. Not really," he answered flippantly. "I do, however, feel like I'm ready to get out of this stuffy building with all of these nutcases all around me."

Including Luke and Lorelai, there were a total of sixteen competitors crowded into the lobby of the building. There were also about ten or twelve helpers and event volunteers who lingered around the refreshment table.

One pair started sounding off on a motivation cheer. Again. They'd been doing it for the past twenty minutes.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Kill me now," he muttered.

"MO-TI-VA-TION CHECK! AYE AYE! MO-TI-VA-TION CHECK! AYE AYE! WE ARE MOTIVATED; YES WE AAARREE! WE ARE MOTIVATED; BEST BY FAAARRR! MO-TI-VA-TION CHECK! AYE YIIIIIIEEE! MO-TI-VA-TION CHECK!"

And for the past _ten_ minutes, there had been trailing cheers that mocked the original.

"_MO-TI-VA-TION CHECK! __WE CAN CHANT LOUD JUST LIKE YOUUUU. TELL ME, WHAT EXACTLY DOES THIS PROOOOVE? MO-TI-VA-TION CHECK_!"

A few people chuckled.

Lorelai smiled at Luke's irritated expression as the noise finally died down a bit.

"See, it's over," she appeased. "Just a minute or two of insanity, then it's back to the regular hubbub."

He nodded. His expression still showed irritability. He stared at the wall.

"Luke," Lorelai called.

He looked at her. "Yeah?" he answered.

She moved closer to be heard over all of the excited chatter. "You're not…like angry are you?" she asked in nervousness.

He shook his head. "No, why?"

"You're all quiet and thoughtful." Her timidity put a smile on his face. It made her feel instantly better, and she smiled too. "That's not a good sign for guys, you know? I know you're aggravated. I can't have you getting upset too."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not upset. I'm just thinking."

Her eyes narrowed. "About how much you wish you never met me so you would have never been dragged into this?" she discerned questioningly.

"Close," he answered sarcastically. She smiled. "I was actually thinking about what kind of stuff they'll have us doing." They looked at one another for a moment and Luke could see how much she wanted for him to not dread every moment of the race. Though Luke had fought her tooth and nail about joining the race, he really didn't see it being that bad. Not only did he get to hang with Lorelai for a week, but he got to spend some time away from the diner. It had been a long while since he'd been able to do that.

"So, you were actually thinking about the race?" she inquired.

"Yep."

"Really?" she asked with surprise in her voice.

"Yeah, really."

She nodded and lowered her eyes. That was definitely good news. She allowed herself to feel that relief before she met his eyes again. "Hey, I know you've probably been a little worried about having me as a partner, but I just wanted you to know that I've been, you know, buffing up over these last few days."

Luke almost laughed. "Buffing up?"

"Yeah. Sit ups, crunches, hula-hooping, Taebo, and a uh push-up…"

He laughed that time. "Push-_up_? Just one?"

"Yeah, turns out, I suck at them. But I did do one. I _murdered_ that one!" she bragged.

"Good job!"

"I think so," she reveled with a bright smile though she knew how sarcastic the praise was. She raised her arm and made a muscle. "Here, feel my new guns."

Luke's brows raised amusedly. "No thanks. I can see them from here." He couldn't see anything through her clothes.

She grabbed his hand and lifted it to her showcased muscle. He gave in and wrapped his hand around her small arm. He actually did feel a little something. "Ooh, impressive."

"I know, right!" She smiled widely in self-admiration. "Let me feel yours," she said to him.

He shook his head. "I don't think I can compete," he said coolly. Before he finished his sentence, Lorelai was raising his arm herself. He smirked and made a small muscle at her urging.

Lorelai took both hands and felt over the taut area. He was nowhere near full flex, and still, she couldn't tell. When she realized she was admiring a little bit too much, she pushed his arm away. "You're right. You can't even _begin_ to compete with me."

He laughed.

Someone came in and addressed the crowd. When done, everyone began to gather their things to head outside.

Luke picked up Lorelai's bag and handed it to her before reaching down to grab his. He got his straps situated over both shoulders. "Just so you know, I'm not worried," he said. Lorelai looked up at him. "You're gonna do great. Even before I learned about your sad little push-up, I knew you'd give your all."

She chuckled. "Thanks, Luke." She walked near his side and pulled on his sleeve in a way that should have let him know she was about to annoy him. Still, he brought his ear closer. "Mo-ti-va-tion check!" she sang quietly.

He pulled himself free. "Not you too."

Lorelai laughed and moved ahead of Luke as he guided her to a spot in the line. The teams began to pour out of the building, and the crowd's cheering got insane.

Taylor announced each team member, giving their respective town ample time to show their boisterous support.

In the eight teams, there were three sets with only guys, four sets with a guy and a girl, and one pair with only girls.

Lorelai scoped out the competition thoroughly and was less than impressed. The teams were made up of decent competitors, but she remained confident in her and Luke's abilities. Plus they actually got along. One of the guy teams, who she found were brothers, argued non-stop. And the race had not even begun. She figured they'd be the first to go. She wanted to take Kirk and his limber, athletic granny partner down, but they, along with her and Luke, represented Stars Hollow. Until the very end, she'd have to settle for beating him to the pit stops, while still hoping he beat the remaining teams. Because no matter what happened, they had to ensure that Stars Hollow came out on top.

Taylor instructed all of the teams to get ready.

"My heart is pounding," Lorelai said to Luke.

"Well, pray it doesn't stop," he said back.

She hit his arm and he smiled. They were all lined up, shoulder to shoulder. Many of the people had one foot placed in front of the other, ready to take off. Lorelai stared ahead at the 4 waist-high wooden boxes thirty yards away. They were told the first instruction rested inside. There were two clues per box, and she already had her eye trained on the one she was going for. She hoped only one other team went for it because she hated to cause any kind of physical harm so early in the game.

She reached over and blindly patted Luke's arm to get his attention.

"Ready to rock?" she asked him.

"Ready to rock," he assured.

"Ready to roll?"

He rolled his eyes. "Sure."

She tore her eyes from the box and over to him. "_Sure_?!" she repeated.

"I'm ready, Lorelai."

"Okay. Just gotta make sure."

Taylor had moved from behind the microphone and now held a bullhorn. He started a countdown, and Lorelai leaned forward.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Goooooo!!"

Sixteen people took off across the parking lot.

…**TBC…**

Okay, Readers, more to come soon! Let me know what you think so far.


	2. Chapter 2

Told you all! Updates coming quick, quick, quick! Enjoy.

**The Amazingly Different Race** **Part II**

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Goooooo!!"

Sixteen people took off across the parking lot.

As they neared the boxes, the line of sixteen divided smoothly into four groups. It took the speed racers only seconds to reach their destination.

"Ha! Lorelai, we beat you!" Kirk yelled from two boxes away.

Lorelai grabbed the first envelope from her box and stepped back so the second team could get theirs. Her eyes went to Luke as she aggressively tore the seal. "I swear I am going to _hurt_ Kirk before the end of this race!" she exclaimed.

"You and me, both," he said distractedly as he waited for her to open the paper. She got it unfolded and held it so that they both could read.

_How bout a walk through the park?  
Or better yet a baseball field…  
One good swing is all you need.  
Brawn will get you there. But brain is key._

Luke nodded languidly. "Great," he said simply. "I have no idea what this means. What about you?"

Lorelai looked around. "Um, not..really," she said as she quickly looked for something that'd help her figure it out.

A few of the teams broke off and started jogging off with no clue as to what they were to do either. But their movements put Lorelai on alert. One team sped up and began racing around the bend so of course people began to follow their lead. There were many trees in that area of the park. Lots of the players noticed their objective at the same moment. Backpacks were dropped to the ground as each of the eight teams raced up to one of the eight hanging piñatas.

Luke made it to theirs first. "Hand me that stick," he said to Lorelai who was already reaching for one.

"Here you go."

He gripped it in his hands like a baseball bat. "You sure you don't want to do the honors?"

She smiled and waved him onward, anxious. "Hit it! Hit it!"

A minute into the race, and Luke was already proving to be a great choice. He whacked the piñata hard, and it went spinning all over the place. He steadied it with the stick and hit it again without delay. A hole appeared on the side, and Lorelai excitedly spurred him on.

"You've almost got it, Luke. One more good swing." She looked around at the others to see their progress. She saw nothing but sticks swinging and hitting, swinging and missing, and lots of overexcited partners yelling instructions like there was more than one way to hit a papier-mâché creature.

She returned focus to Luke. He was gearing up for a swing that looked to be the final one. Lorelai's eyes went to his arms, and she was surprised to see such clear definition through two layers of clothes. Her attention went lower, and she missed his swing.

She snapped back fast. This was definitely not the time.

"Ooh, there we go!" she exclaimed. She ran over to where neat cardboard cut-outs had fallen out of the piñata's mangled frame.

She and Luke knelt low to the ground. Diagrams and words decorated the pieces.

"It's a puzzle."

"Good eye, Luke," Lorelai commented as she quickly laid out each piece to see more clearly.

He rolled his eyes toward her. "Don't start."

Quiet, playful laughter came from her as excitement and adrenaline continued to build up inside of her.

Tacked on to one of the pieces was a bright green note not made to be overlooked. They opened and read it.

_There are five pieces to this puzzle.  
They may appear random, but in the right order, they'll fill some pretty important blanks.  
When all five have been determined, see a race helper and receive your next clue._

Lorelai laid the paper to the side.

The pieces were made to fit together, and it took only a few seconds for them to push them together in the proper order. Once that was done, they removed their hands at the same time and sat back a little to determine the meaning.

Luke pointed at one piece. "Hey, this one's Robinhood." His tone, so accustomed to all things gruff, poorly hid brief excitement at that particular discovery.

Lorelai looked to where he pointed.

_HOROBOD_ was written there.

She smiled and nodded, impressed. "One down, four to go," she stated. No sooner than the words exited her mouth did Luke point to another.

"Get up and go!"

Lorelai's eyes immediately went to the first diagram which he was referring to.

GET was written alongside the width of the card, straight up and down. GO was written horizontally closer to the other side.

She looked at him. "Okay, dude, you're starting to make me look pretty bad here," she joked. He smiled, his eyes glued to the remaining cards.

The next second found her getting excited.

"Safety in numbers!" she called out eagerly.

"Lorelai! Lower your voice! What, do you want to help out everybody around us?"

She clamped a hand over her mouth and pointed at the one which she had just figured out.

8456SAFETY3237.

Luke nodded. That brought them down to two.

She started to dance a little, and her finger went to another one.

SHOPSHOPSHOPSHOPSHOPSHOP

U.

Luke looked at it for a moment before his eyes went up to her face. "You know it?"

An enthusiastic nod preceded the words, "Shop til you drop."

He smiled a bit. His hand went to her back, and his attention went to the final card. "Good job," he complimented coolly.

She grinned and focused on the last card too. "I bet I can get this one before you."

"We're supposed to be competing against other teams, not each other," he reminded.

"Sounds like loser talk to me," she taunted.

They both studied the card even as they conversed.

He was quiet for a moment as he thought. Then, he sat up some, taking his eyes from the card. "I'll be happy to take that bet." He pointed. "It's 'see eye to eye'."

Lorelai squinted at the card then let out an "ooohhh" as she saw what she'd been missing.

CI II.

She jumped to her feet. "Done! Done! Where's the clue?!" she shrieked.

A young girl walked over to them and Luke went to retrieve their backpacks. Lorelai snatched the envelope from the girl then apologized for her unintended rudeness. But she was anxious. They were ahead. All other teams were still stooped to the ground.

Luke came back over and laid Lorelai's bag by her feet before positioning his on his back. She ripped the seal.

On the paper, there were several sentences with huge gaps in-between certain words. Lowering the paper and looking at the puzzle on the ground, they realized that was their key. The order the pieces were in was the order in which they were to fill the blanks.

"Okay, okay," Lorelai began with wide eyes. She and Luke's eyes alternated from the paper to the ground. They began to read together, their volume low.

"_It looks like you made it past task number one. It's time to move forward. _______Get up and Go_______ to locale number two. In this place you can _______Shop 'til you drop_______ or at least 'til you're broke. You may not _______See eye to eye_______ on the different brands but this place will never go out of style! _

_It's said that there are _______Safety in numbers_______ but in this competition, living on the dangerous side is more rewarding, so get a move on! Need an address? Fat chance. But here's a clue. The clothes of _______Robinhood_______ are notably this color. Know it? If not, you better figure it out. You're going to turn onto that street and your destination will be at the end. Go in and look around. Your next clue will be there. Good Luck. I hear Hartford is full of colorful streets. Try not to end up in Kentucky!!!"_

Lorelai bent down and retrieved her backpack. "Green Street," she said to Luke. "It's talking about Green Street." She paused. "What's on Green Street?" She began to walk quickly toward where the rented cars were parked. The young girl fell back and watched the two of them walk away many seconds, if not minutes, before the first of their competition.

Luke thought on Lorelai's question. "I can't remember," he finally answered. "There's a uh…Stop & Shop somewhere in that area, I believe. "Not sure if it's on--"

She stopped suddenly, grabbing Luke's shirt. "Stop & Shop!" she exclaimed. Luke looked around to make sure no one had heard her. Luckily, they were far enough away. He returned focus to her.

"What, you think that's it?" he asked.

"Different brands! Will never go out of style! What stays in style more than a _grocery store_?!" she asked happily.

He placed faith in her. "Sounds good to me. Let's go."

Lorelai jumped back in step. "Eeek, this is so exciting!" She clapped. "Isn't this exciting, Luke?"

He smiled and shook his head, walking slightly behind her. "Yeah. I'm eeeeking all on the inside."

Lorelai chuckled. Making it to the vehicles, she looked around at the eight Civics all of different colors. "First pick. Which one do you want?"

He pointed. "This one." He walked over, and Lorelai followed. The door was already unlocked. She removed her backpack and passed it off to Luke as he held his hand out for it.

"Why this one?" she asked.

He tossed both of their luggage in the backseat and shut the door.

"Look at the keys." She did. "What do you see?"

"Letters and numbers," she answered.

"Look familiar?"

"No. Should it?"

They were on the passenger side, and Luke guided her to the back. He pointed to the license plate. "What about now?"

She smiled and pointed between the keys and the plate. "Oh, cool, they match!"

Luke chuckled and pointed her back around to the passenger side and he went to the driver's. "Come on, we're losing time," he said calmly.

She nodded quickly and complied. "Hey hopefully, no one else notices that, and they'll get settled into the car only to discover that the key won't fit in the ignition." She laughed. "That'd be pretty darn amusing."

They climbed inside, and Luke cranked up the car in the next second. He adjusted the mirror and put on his seatbelt. "Yeah," he said of her comment. He put his hand on the back of her seat and turned, releasing the brake. "Too bad we won't be around to see it," he added.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke pulled up in front of the grocery store ten minutes later.

They didn't get lost or have to turn around once. And no other players were in sight. So far, so good.

"Come on, come on!" Lorelai urged as she climbed out of the car. She shut the door and looked into the backseat. "We don't have to bring our bags, do we?" she asked Luke while looking at him over the hood of the car.

He shook his head. "No, we're coming back to the car."

She nodded and ran to meet him near the hood. They hurried along but had to stop to allow a few cars to pass by.

"Don't they know that pedestrians rule the world? They should yield to us, dammit!" She looked quickly from right to left. Her hand rested on Luke's wrist. She'd grasped him at the sight of the traffic, as if he was about to run out in the middle of the street. The cars passed, and once again, they were in motion. "Hurry, hurry."

Luke allowed her to hold onto his arm even though he was doing an excellent job at keeping pace.

"Try not to run over any senior citizens in here, Lorelai," he said. He knew that when it came to her and competition, anything was possible.

They made it inside at that moment. "I'll do my best," she stated. "Just as long as Kirk's partner stays out of my way." Her eyes darted about the store. "There!" she exclaimed with her finger pointed to a weight scale.

They quickly made their way over. A collection of envelopes lay on a table. Lorelai counted them under her breath. There were eight. She squealed. "We're definitely in first place!"

Luke nodded and smiled. Her excitement continued to amuse him. "Yeah, I see."

She opened the envelope and saw a five dollar bill and a paper with instructions.

_Time to see how you both weigh in.  
Add the two weights together. Write down the sum.  
One plus one equals two. Your weight plus your partner's weight will equal a sweet treat!  
Buy one ready-to-eat food item whose total is less than the weight sum. [ex. Weights= 225 can buy a treat totaling 2.05 and have .20 cents left]  
But get it as close as you can! Go to register 3 to check-out. You'll receive instructions from there. _

Luke took the five from the envelope. "We need change for the machine," he announced before taking off. He returned in less than a minute with four quarters. "You can go first." He slipped in a quarter.

"Okay." Lorelai stepped on the machine then pushed him aside. "You go over there," she instructed.

He frowned. "What?"

"Well, I'm not going to just let you stand there while I weigh myself!"

He sighed heavily and turned his back to her. "This is ridiculous. I'm gonna be able to tell what it is anyway when I see the total."

Lorelai waited for the read-out. "I don't care," she said stubbornly.

He folded his arms. "Jeez," he whispered. "Just hurry up."

"Don't rush me. I have to sweet talk the scale first." She proceeded to do just that.

When Luke heard her step off, he turned around with a sigh of impatience and got on. It still had her weight on it. He looked at her as she slipped her jacket back on, which she'd taken off.

"One hundred twenty-three. How humiliating," he said banally.

She pulled her hair from her jacket. "Yeah, well, that number you see is _post_- sweet talk," she stated as she walked up beside Luke.

He slipped in a quarter and looked down at her plainly. "Why is that you get to look at my number but I had to step aside for yours?"

She looked up at him. "I know! That's so unfair!" Her hand went to her hip and she looked back at the scale in the next moment. Luke rolled his eyes away while mumbling under his breath. One seventy-one popped up.

"Two ninety-four," Lorelai said as soon as the weight appeared.

"What?"

She leaned on the table and wrote the total on one of the provided slips. "Our combined weight," she explained.

"How the hell did you figure that out so fast?"

She stood up. "Well, as a youngster, I attended 1st grade. And because I was so gifted, I moved on to 2nd grade. Then, miracle upon miracles, I was accepted to 3rd grade--"

"Let's just go," he said flatly.

She waved him to follow her. "Okay, we have to go buy something." They stepped away from the scale and saw two teams rush inside.

"Aw man, they're catching up!"

They went to the freezer section and Lorelai grabbed a box of popsicles for $2.29.

"That's more than sixty cents off," Luke noted.

She shrugged. "Close enough. With tax, it's only like fifty cents off. Besides, I love these things," she ended with a smile.

"Maybe we should get somet--"

"Oh no, there's two more teams," she said, panicked. "Let's go to check-out."

Register 3 was closed off to regular shoppers. A cashier stood ready for the participants.

"Hey!" she greeted as Luke and Lorelai rushed up.

"Hey," they said simultaneously, all while looking at the progress of the others. With only one scale, they had a slight advantage since teams were forced to line up behind one another.

"You two are first, ya know!" she offered cheerfully. They smiled. "May I see your slip please?" she asked, referring to the paper with the combined weights. They handed it over. She pulled out a red pen, re-wrote the number then placed her initials on it before giving it back. Luke and Lorelai exchanged a confused look. "Okay, your total is two forty-three." Luke handed her three ones, and she passed him his change. "Here is your receipt." She gave it to him then pointed over to an office. "Go in there for your next clue." She smiled and winked. "Good luck to you both." She turned and greeted another team who raced up with a bag of Oreos.

"Come on." Luke took their bag with the popsicles and gently pushed Lorelai forward into the room, his hand in the small of her back.

The door was closed behind them by someone inside.

"Hi," Lorelai greeted to the man and woman in there. "We're here for clue number 2," she said, her spirits high.

The man stepped forward and passed over the next envelope in exchange for their slip and receipt.

"Thanks." Luke took it and ripped it.

_Got your treat? The change from your transaction?  
Now break out the calculator and do some subtraction.  
Take the weight sum and subtract the treat.  
Don't remember? No worries. Take a look at your receipt.  
Whatever number you get, you better hope it's small  
That number will equal minutes that you'll be staring at these four walls.  
But maybe that time will come in handy for your team.  
Remember that treat you bought? The two of you have to consume the whole darn thing.  
Once the minutes have run out and the food is no more  
See the lady in the red hat, and the next clue is yours._

Lorelai gasped. "Are you _kidding_ me?!" she exclaimed. The man picked up one of the eight timers and set it for fifty-one minutes.

"Nope," he answered simply before setting it down on a picture of a smiling Luke and Lorelai.

The door opened and in walked another team—the male/female duo from Woodbridge.

Lorelai plopped down in a nearby chair. Luke sat down next to her. "We are so about to fall behind!" she whined.

Luke sighed. "I told you that maybe you needed to pick something other than those low-priced popsi--" He caught the look she was giving him and stopped talking.

"Do you seriously think that's what I need to hear right now?" she asked anyway.

He lowered his eyes. "Guess not."

She folded her arms and watched as the new team went through pretty much the same shock at hearing what they had to do. The woman frowned at the bag of Oreos in her hand. "Well, Honey, we only have to wait nine minutes, but this bag of double stuffed here may present a problem."

He nodded. "Yeah, we better get started."

"Nine minutes!" Lorelai said to Luke. "Nine measly minutes. We'll be in here close to an hour, Luke."

"Calm down," he said.

"Calm down? How can I _calm down_ when we're losing?"

The door opened again, and the two brothers from Woodsbury came inside.

Luke sat back in his chair and adjusted his hat. "Well, just look at it this way…" he began, getting comfortable in his chair. "There's nothing we can do right now, so try not to flip out. We'll catch up. No problem," he said, his voice never rising.

Lorelai took a heavy breath, her angry, pouty eyes focused on the teams that continued to come into the room.

"We've got to wait in here forty-five minutes?!! You've gotta be shitting me!"

The lady who had the honor of wearing the red hat looked at the man who had spoken. "No. I'm sorry to say that we are not…" She paused with a disgusted look, "…_shitting_ you…sir."

The man's partner laughed out loud then playfully punched him. "Have some respect, man. Don't be a dick." He went and sat in an empty chair, his cargo pants low on his waist. His eyes moved around the room and landed on Lorelai who was beside him. "Power bar?" he offered. It was his and his partner's purchase.

"No thanks."

He nodded. "Okay." He opened it and took a bite.

Lorelai looked over at Luke and held in laughter. He smiled a little. The guys were young and athletic. They looked like frat guys. They represented for Litchfield. Despite the childlike behavior exhibited between the two of them, they were definitely one of their biggest competitors.

Luke leaned down and retrieved the bag with the popsicles. "Cherry, Grape, or Orange to start?" he asked Lorelai when he had the box open.

She pointed to the one in his hand. "Cherry's good." He passed it to her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He got himself a Grape one and laid the box to the side. "This should cause you to relax a little. Ice cream always seems to bring out your annoying, overly happy side." He tore open the plastic and bit off a piece. Lorelai smiled as she licked away on her own dessert.

She hit his arm with her elbow. "Hey, sorry about that little episode back there."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"It won't happen again," she added.

He chuckled and bit off another piece, leaving only a little chunk. "Yes, it will. But it's okay. I know deep down you're…incredibly cuckoo, so I--"

"Funny, Luke." He smiled and cleared his stick. He reached for another. "So, when exactly did you develop this ability?" she asked vaguely.

He looked at her. "What ability?"

She smiled and licked the cold ice cream. "This knack you have for bringing me down."

"I'm still lost."

She pointed to herself. "I panic..." She pointed to him, "..then you come in all Super Luke and tell me in the most assuaging way possible to shut the hell up and chill out. And then I actually listen. What the hell is that about?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, _that_ ability," he said in indulgence.

"Yeah, _that_ ability," she said mocking him with a smile. She paused thoughtfully and just licked her ice cream. "That's a pretty powerful thing you've got going on there," she said simply. "Not to say you should start getting a big head or start using your powers for evil…" There was a brief silence. "But just know that no one else can touch you when it comes to that."

Quiet fell between them.

Luke looked to the popsicle in his hand for seconds. When he turned his head slightly to look at her, their eyes met. He smiled. "My head should be allowed to swell just a little bit, don't you think?"

She held up a hand. "Hey, buddy, what happens in the privacy of your own bedro--"

"Forget I said anything."

She laughed.

Luke finished off his second popsicle and tossed the stick in the bag. "You know, I'm aware that this is your favorite ice cream and everything, but it'd be great if you'd savor a little less and eat this stuff like you're in a competition."

She licked her ice cream slowly and looked at him as he spoke. After he finished, she took note of her speed. Unfortunately, she didn't find too much wrong with it.

"_Now_ who needs to relax?" she asked in a teasing manner. She smiled at his eye roll. "Settle down, Luke, we've got more than enough time."

Luke grabbed another popsicle, bringing the box count to eight. "For every one of these things I eat more than you, that's how many days you're going to go without coffee next week."

She chuckled and continued to lick lazily around her ice cream, not believing him for a second. Her eyes drifted over to the guy who'd had the inappropriate outburst about his wait time. He was looking at her—_staring_ at the way she licked the ice cream. She frowned and took it from her mouth. He turned away as if innocent.

"Ew," she muttered.

Luke looked over. "What? What's wrong?"

She shuddered at the thought of what was going through the guy's mind.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked again.

She cut her eyes at the frat boy once more. "Nothing. Just that you're right. It's time to get serious," she said sitting up straight.

Luke passed her one more even though she wasn't finished. "It's about time," he mumbled.

The front door of the office opened. Kirk and Marla stepped inside. Kirk was wide-eyed and looked confused at the sight of people standing and sitting around eating sweets. Lorelai's eyes dropped low to what he was carrying.

She burst out laughing.

"Ahhh, Kirk, nice of you to join us. And fantastic selection you made there," she said as she pointed to the large watermelon in his hand. She leaned on her knees and gave him all attention. "Now, go on and get your instructions. I can't wait to see your reaction when you find out what you're gonna have to do with that beauty!"

Luke leaned over. "Lorelai, leave Kirk alone and focus on your own--"

"Shhhhh," she said harshly as she waved him away. Kirk got the envelope open and started to read. "This is about to get good," she whispered.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Suddenly I'm five years old again."

"Wait for it…" she said slowly. "Wait for it…"

Kirk's eyes bugged out of his head. "What?!" he exclaimed at the paper.

Lorelai erected herself with a large grin present. "Truly spectacular," she said in awe. She still looked at Kirk. "Isn't it amazing how one moment can brighten your whole day?" she commented to Luke.

He shook his head and turned away without response.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai's leg bounced repeatedly as she rode along in the passenger side of the car. Luke was driving. He had one hand on the wheel and the other resting comfortably on the armrest.

He glanced down at her steady leg movement. "Nervous?" He looked back at the road.

She glanced over at him. "No, I'm perfectly fine. Why do you ask?"

His eyes turned to her again, and he brought his hand around hers, lowering it from her face. "Because of this. When did you start biting your nails?" he asked.

She smirked and took a moment to examine the small amount of damage. "It's recent. Sorry. I didn't think I'd receive flack about it since my mother isn't around, but I guess a little of her charm can be found in anyone. What a treat it is to learn that." He rolled his eyes. She smiled. "Just some nervous energy, that's all," she finished.

"I _just_ asked if you were nervous, and you said no," he pointed out.

"Yeah, well…when you get nervous, you aren't always able to fully comprehend the tough questions. Ask me something a little easier to answer."

"Like what?"

"Like…" She pointed to the road ahead. " _'Lorelai, how do you feel about my very low speed on this road? Do you think our second to last place position will be affected in any way by_ this' ?' Ya know, stuff like that," she finished casually.

He looked over at her with annoyance. She held both hands up in defense. "But I'm not complaining," she said quickly. "I'm not complaining _or_ going all Jerry Macguire-getting-showed-the-door. I'm completely zenned out over here, baby."

"_Zenned_ out?" he repeated.

"Yep."

He shook his head. "If you say so."

She looked out of the windshield and thought. Her eyes were wide, and they bounced from point to point. So, the thinking didn't look very peaceful at all.

"We're almost there," Luke said soothingly.

"I know."

He chuckled. "You don't look comforted by that fact."

"Looks can be very deceptive, Luke. Stop being swayed by the front cover and flip through some pages. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what's there."

He shook his head, a smile on his face. "I doubt it. The front cover is pretty telling."

She shifted a bit. "Do you notice that when you talk, you slow down a little?"

"No, I don't."

"Seems that way."

"Well, I'm not slowing down," he reassured.

"What's your speed?"

"Lorelai."

"Hm?"

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what again?"

"Bugging me. Flipping out over nothing."

Her mouth opened a little in offense. "I'm not. I told you I'm zenned. I'm totally cool."

"You're totally _lying_."

She drooped some and then started running her hand up and down her seatbelt in a sudden show of impatience. "Luuuke!" she carped. He came to a stop at a red light and sighed loudly. Both hands went to his head. Lorelai fell silent for a few seconds. "Sorry," she said quietly.

He extended an arm in front of her and pointed out of her window. "You see that?" he asked in a voice that betrayed his agitation.

She looked around a few cars and past a few buildings to what he was pointing at. "Yeah." Her eyes went back to him.

He settled in his seat and let out more air. A calmer breath. "Know what that is?" he asked her.

A smile showed as she relaxed. "The bowling alley," she answered, still cautious about ticking him off.

He matched her smile. "Yes. The bowling alley," he confirmed. The light turned green and he pulled off. "See, we're almost there. And guess what else?"

"What?"

"I'm a _damn_ great bowler." She smiled. "What about you?" he asked.

"I do okay," she replied, a little too fast. "I…" she paused, "…am pretty awful, actually."

He laughed. "Well, I'm not. When we get there, whatever the challenge is, if it has _anything_ to do with bowling, we're going to come from behind. I guarantee it."

Tension left her. The tiniest bit left her body, and though it was small, with the way she was feeling, _any_ amount gone was a relief. "You really think so?" she asked.

He nodded and turned into the parking lot of the bowling alley. "I guaranteed it. You can't get better than that."

She smiled wide. "Okay," she said with a genial nod as she determined the way she felt. "Anxiety lessened," she announced.

"Good to hear." He found a parking space, and they both hopped from the car. "Now, let's go make some people nervous," he said.

They jogged up to the building.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"So, what does this mean?"

Lorelai folded the paper and put it in her back pocket. "We pick one or the other. Whichever will benefit your team's skill in the quickest time."

Luke nodded. "Well, we're definitely going to bowl for the strikes, right?"

Lorelai's eyes went up to his and she nodded back. "I'm counting on you, Butch."

They rushed over to get their shoes.

They were on a "Detour". Each team could choose to either bowl four strikes in a row or put their charm and people skills to the test by convincing ten bowlers to allow them to take one of their turns. In the twenty-five lane alley, no one person could be asked twice, meaning if John Doe allowed the Litchfield team to take his turn, he could not be asked again by another team. And in doing the task, none of the teams could bowl a gutter ball. If that happened, the team would have to begin again, no matter if it happened on their first bowl or their last one. If the duo was forced to begin again, then that would be the only time they could re-use their John Doe if given permission.

There were volunteers of the race whose job it was to monitor. They circled incognito. Each public place, they were there. That's why when instructions indicated the team's inability to mention the race to their respective John Doe, it was adhered to by the participants. If not, it would result in a time penalty, which nobody wanted to risk.

Luke and Lorelai took one of five designated lanes. Only two others were being used by the six other teams who had beaten them to the alley. The remaining teams were off doing the alternate challenge.

Lorelai sat down in front of the keypad for the score screen. She looked over in the next lane where the two athletic guys from Litchfield were. The temperamental one completed an impressive split but walked away from the lane muttering obscenities since that turn had made the preceding two strikes a waste of time.

She looked over at the only other team doing the challenge. The brothers. One of them was preparing to bowl. He swung his arm back and rolled the ball down the aisle, his style skillful. The 14-pound ball all but shattered the ten pins. His arms shot up into the air as he yelped. He held two fingers up to his brother, and they slapped hands when he made it back over.

Lorelai fidgeted nervously and focused on Luke.

"Please be awesome. Please be awesome," she repeated under her breath.

Luke took off his jacket and laid it in the chair next to Lorelai. He stretched his hands over his head while focusing on the pins. After a moment and without notice, he turned to the side, stretching that side as well. His eyes went to Lorelai, and hers bounced up to his. Guilt showed all over her face. Luke smiled.

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head airily. "Nothing."

She looked away, embarrassed.

She'd been caught. She'd been caught ogling _by_ the person being ogled. That was never good. It bordered on humiliating. She could joke with Luke all day about his assets, but being caught red-handed in a very humorless stare-down made her want to stick her head in the ground.

Their relationship did not consist of those types of predicaments.

Luke leaned down to the line of balls and started feeling over each. "It's okay, ya know," he said out of nowhere.

Her eyes went from the empty lane next to them back over to him. "What?" She asked for him to repeat himself.

He found a 12-pound ball and turned it. "I said it's okay," he repeated. He stuck his fingers in the holes and lifted it. His eyes went to her as the ball hung at his side. "I do it too," he added with a wink.

She squinted at him. "You…do?"

He nodded. "Yeah, every chance I get." Her eyes squinted more, and she made the sudden choice to let him finish without interruption. She wasn't about to incriminate herself. He pointed a finger behind where he stood. Over to the adjacent lane. "I always scope out 20-year old frat guys. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

That time, her confusion was as clear as day. "What are you talking about?"

Luke was trying to lighten the mood, maybe get a smile to shine through all that earlier embarrassment. When his little joke didn't have the desired effect, he rolled his eyes and first made sure she knew that the homosexuality part was humor. Bad humor. But humor, still.

"I was just trying to make you feel better about getting caught checking out some guys who may as well be Rory's age."

"Excuse me?"

He gave her a look. "Are you seriously trying to deny it?"

Her eyes fell over to the men who were still recovering from the non-strike. "Deny…looking at…_those guys_?" she asked incredulously.

He nodded, shrugged. "Don't be too embarrassed. It _is_ a step up from the guy you dated last year. At least these guys aren't being led around by their parents."

Luke was convinced her focus had been elsewhere. That became clear to Lorelai when he opened his mouth with that lame accusation, followed by the reminder of the kid from business class. She almost smiled at the realization. And _would_ have if she didn't feel so affronted.

"Okay, you know what, Luke? Why don't you just bowl." She sat back in her chair.

He still looked at her. "You're mad," he said in observance. He paused. "I didn't…mean to make you mad," he added.

"I'm not mad." She smiled wide. Plastered that fake smile for the world to see. "See, I'm smiling. Smiling equals happiness. Now, bowl, please."

He sighed, rolled his eyes. "Look…" He went and sat down next to her.

She looked at him wide-eyed. "Luke, seriously, we're behind and--"

"I really didn't mean to piss you off," he interrupted. "I was _trying_ to help."

"Yeah and look how well that turned out," she replied sarcastically.

He tightened his jaw but refrained from commenting. He instead went on with his apology. "I really didn't mean to offend you. Really. Don't be mad, okay?" She met his eyes, her anger long gone in an instant. But he went on anyway. "I can't bowl with…all kinds of negative energy bouncing off of you," he said gesturing to the air around her. She smiled. His tone seemed to respond to that. "I need positive vibes so that I can do my thing. Can you help me out with that?"

She pretended to think as her eyes shifted. Finally, there was a very simple, "Yes. I can do that."

He smiled a little and started to get up but stopped. She opened her mouth to say something about the time they were wasting, but he held a hand out. "And," he said fast, "I'm going to stop bringing up the kid---or the _date_," he corrected, "that you had last year. I see it's a sore spot. I'll leave it alone," he finished.

Her lips spread, and she held the smile for seconds without a word. "Promise?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Promise."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Thank you for _that_ and also thank you for taking a few seconds to make sure that I was…you know…okay. You're a true gentleman, Luke Danes."

He nodded listlessly as he looked at her in suspicion. He was pretty good at reading Lorelai's subtext. "You want me to get off my ass and bowl now, don't you?"

She brought in her lips and nodded her head fast. "Very, _very_ quickly. Please."

He got up with an eye roll. "Only because you said please…" he mumbled.

Luke strode to the end of the lane and shot the bowling ball straight down the middle. The speed and power of his ball was impressive. It even had the neighboring team taking notice. No pin was left standing. He walked back and nodded at Lorelai's thumbs up.

The last team to arrive to the bowling alley was the two women from Litchfield. They were the only team that Luke and Lorelai had been ahead of. They came in and without delay, opted for the strike challenge. They were far behind, and their hustle showed that they had no desire to remain that way.

Luke took notice of them as he went to get his ball. He positioned it on his fingers, walked to the lane and shot it down the lane once again. This time, there was a slight curve. The ball started going right, then straightened out. It hit the pins just as hard, but this time, one was left standing. Luke turned back to Lorelai who had her hands held up in a 'what happened?' gesture.

"Little rusty," he explained coolly as he flexed his fingers.

"Well, get those kinks worked out, _man_!" she exclaimed playfully with a wagging finger. "We've got to get a move on!" To prove her point more, she pointed over to the two brothers who were yelling and cheering after knocking out their fourth consecutive strike. They gathered their things and ran to get the next clue.

Luke waved them away like their lead was nothing spectacular. "Don't worry about it." He waited for his ball to shoot out. Lorelai stood and looked all around. She spotted three of the four teams that were doing the other challenge. The other team had either already completed their task and left or was just out of her eyeshot. She hoped it was the latter.

The sound of a ball shattering pins made her focus go to the two women. They'd gotten a strike. She looked at Luke and saw just as his arm drew back. He didn't disappoint, taking down all of his pins too. He turned and held up one finger, letting Lorelai know they had one down and three to go.

The ladies got another strike. Lorelai got nervous. She looked to the other side, and smiled as the foul-mouthed player on the male team missed strike number four for them. He punched the air, and yelled "Fuck!" so loud that half the bowling alley looked in their direction.

Another sound of ball meeting pins made her head swing back in the other direction. The ladies were killing them. Three balls bowled and every last one of them was strikes. They were all about business. No cheering, no yelling, no doing cute little girly cheers. One of them bowled, waited for the ball, and then bowled again without a word being spoken to the partner that waited patiently in the wings.

Lorelai kept her eyes on them and was able to see them bowl their fourth and final strike. Perfection. She watched in awe as they slapped hands in mild celebration and rushed out of the bowling area.

"Unbelievable," Lorelai muttered.

"What?" Luke asked as he came back and picked up his ball again.

She pointed behind herself. "Those ladies—they're finished already!" she explained.

He grasped his ball. "Yeah, I see. They're really good," he mentioned casually before turning. He brought his arm back and shot his ball down the lane. Ten pins crashed to the ground. He turned back with a smile. "Four is the lucky number, right?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Four? That's four?" He nodded then narrowed his eyes at her.

"You mean you weren't paying any attention?"

She stood and tossed him his jacket. "Sorry, I was so enthralled by those women over there kicking your ass. Kinda stole focus."

He slipped his jacket on. "Hey, four in five ain't bad."

"Mmhm. But you know what would've been better?" she asked smartly.

"No, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been having _you_ do it."

She paused. "That's true."

He fixed his collar. "Thought that'd get you." He pointed. "Grab the clue."

"Already ahead of you." She picked one up and counted the remaining ones. They started moving again. "We're third," she said to Luke with a bright smile.

"Yip-py," he said with fabricated enthusiasm.

Lorelai focused on the paper. "Oh, you know you're tickled pink, Luke."

He rolled his eyes. Then smiled in the next moment.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Each day's events were made to come to an end by eight pm at the latest. The last thing anyone wanted was for racers to be driving and running around well into the night.

The last clue for day one found all teams at in indoor gymnasium. Wide and steep slop buckets were positioned in the middle of the floor, and instructions said for one team member to get down and dirty and bob for pickles. Easy enough. Or it would have been easy if they were not being forced to dip their heads in pounds and pounds of chocolate syrup. Five pickles total would allow them to make their way to the pit stop.

Lorelai took the rubber band from Luke and tied her hair back.

"This is going to be delicious," she said giddily.

He shook his head at her. "Just remember the objective, okay? I don't want to lose this because you're over there trying to eat your weight in chocolate."

"I make no promises," she said with a teasing wink.

Luke moved to the side, and Lorelai made her way over to the bucket. She wasted no time submerging her head in the thick, chocolaty goo. She resurfaced almost immediately gasping for air. No pickle was in her mouth.

Luke clapped. "Come on, Lorelai. You can do it!"

She went back down.

He looked around at the other teams. Three had not arrived from the previous challenge, and the four other teams were hard at work trying to complete the current one.

Lorelai came back up after several seconds with a thick, brown, drippy object between her teeth.

Luke laughed and clapped some more as he watched her fling the pickle onto the plastic-covered floor. "Whooo, good job, Lorelai!" She thoughtlessly wiped syrup from her eyes before dipping her head back under.

She emerged four times in under a minute. Two of those times found her with pickles in her mouth. Luke cheered her on non-stop.

There were seven pickles in each tub. It took her four minutes and thirteen seconds to get five of those. She was the first to complete the task, with the women from Litchfield coming in a close second. Lorelai used the supplied towel to wipe stickiness from her face as Luke read aloud from the final clue sheet. It was telling them where to go to the pit stop.

_What's your favorite holiday in the year?  
Many would say Christmas, the last holiday in the year.  
Or New Years, the first holiday in the year.  
Easter is a great holiday in the year because in spring, there blossoms the pretty, pretty Magnolia.  
Whatever your preference, you can be sure to find one of that holiday in every year.  
Head to the pit stop, and get a good night's sleep.  
Last one there is a rotten egg! _

"Could this be anymore random?" Luke griped.

Lorelai folded the towel and used it to start on her hair. "It's telling us to go to the Holiday Inn," she determined easily.

Luke read back over the instructions. "Oh." He paused. "There are a million of them here though."

She took the light, earpieces from her ears which kept chocolate from getting inside. "On Magnolia," she answered, again so easily. "Pretty, pretty Magnolia," she sing-songed. She smiled. "Ready to go?"

He looked at her. "Uh, yeah." His focus went from how impressed he was at her modest intellect and to the mission at hand. "Let's go." He started to walk but stopped. "Here, you have some…" His thumb went to her chin, and he swiped away sauce. He held his thumb up for her to see. "Chocolate," he said anyway.

She smiled wide. "Thank you." She moved in, and Luke's eyes went wide. He hoped she wasn't about to do what it looked like she was gearing up to do. She brought her mouth around his thumb, and he could've sworn his whole respiratory system shut down instantaneously. Her warm mouth made its way back up his finger. "Mm. Chin chocolate is the best." She touched his arm and moved past him. "Come on. The dynamic bowling duo just high-tailed it out of here."

Luke stood there staring at his wet thumb.

Lorelai walked a few paces and turned, noticing he hadn't budged. "Luke!"

He snapped his head in her direction. "Uh y-yeah—what—huh?"

She laughed. "What's with you?" she asked genuinely. "We have to go. Come on!"

He looked at his thumb once more then lowered his hand to his side. He hurried to catch up. "Sorry."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Second place. Not too shabby at all," said Lorelai.

She dropped her bag on one of the two double beds inside of the hotel room they'd been given.

"Yeah. Not bad for one day's work huh?" Luke chimed in.

She shook her head, happier than she thought she'd ever be with a second place position.

"Hey, mind if I take this bed?" she asked as she sat at the bottom of the one closest to the door.

"No, go ahead."

She smiled and laid back. Her arms were sprawled near the pillows. "This feels good."

Luke walked from the dresser to his bed and sat down facing her bed. He looked down at her and smiled. "Comfortable?" he asked, not allowing his eyes to rest on her exposed stomach where her shirt had risen.

Her eyes were closed. "Yes," she said tiredly.

He nodded, and his eyes ended up dropping down to her stomach anyway. "You did really good today," he complimented.

She rolled her head around and opened her eyes to him. She smiled sweetly. It was obvious she was exhausted. "So did you, Luke. You were incredible."

He smiled. "I was, wasn't I?"

Her eyes rolled back in her head as she kept her smile in place. "Don't get a big head yet, mister. We still have six days ahead of us." She looked up at the ceiling.

He groaned. "Oooohhhh boy. Six long days."

"Hey, hey, don't give up on me."

"Not on your life."

She looked at him again and smiled. With effort, she brought her aching legs around and managed an Indian style position on the bed facing Luke. "You want to go and shower before dinner?" she asked when settled.

He sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so. What time did they say it would be?"

She shook her wristwatch into position and looked at the time. "About another forty-five minutes." He nodded. "I'm going to take a shower beforehand too. You wanna go first or should I?"

"Doesn't matter."

"So…me first?"

"Sure."

She pointed to him. "Or you first?"

"I told you it doesn't matter," he said.

She smiled. "Ooh, I know. Which one of us is sweatier? Smell test on three." She lifted her arm, signaling for him to do the same.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Lorelai, go get in the damn bathroom. _Please_."

She chuckled. "Okay, okay! You wore me down, Danes." She held both arms out and wiggled her fingers like Andre 3000 in 'Hey Ya'. "Can you help me up?" she asked Luke.

He looked at her outstretched hands problematically. "Since when are you handicapped?"

She said his name once. Very simply. "Luke." And then he was rolling his eyes and standing up.

"Don't get used to this."

"Okay." She smiled brightly and laid her hands inside of his. He just stood there, and she cocked her head at him. "Pull," she instructed.

"You pull _yourself_ up. You have to meet me halfway here."

She scoffed. "Oh, you suck." She started to playfully strain as if she was trying to lift herself. There was actually no effort on her part.

"I should just leave you sitting right here," Luke complained. He pulled a little and Lorelai placed both feet flat on the bed in front of her. He pulled more and she slowly came to a standing position. On the bed. He let her hands go and looked up at her plainly as she towered over him. "Why do you have to make everything so difficult?" he asked.

She smiled and placed one hand on each of his shoulders. "Because it's so much more fun," she answered.

He took a quick step back, making her yelp in fear of falling face down on the floor. He chuckled at that.

"Not funny," she said.

He walked closer to her again, and took both her hands from his shoulders. This time, he walked back while carefully directing her off of the bed like it was a staircase at a debutante ball.

When both her feet were planted on the floor, they both sighed and looked at one another. Their faces were an unsharpened pencil length apart.

"You good now?" Luke asked, acting more perturbed than he was.

"I'm good now." She smiled.

"Good. Now, go take a shower."

She nodded, and seconds of quiet went by before she said, "Back in a jiffy" and stepped around him.

Luke backed up and sat on his bed. "I won't hold my breath." He knew enough about women to know that when it came to bathroom time, they were never 'back in a jiffy'.

Lorelai turned back, patted him on his cap-covered head, and made him grimace at her. "Smart boy," she ended. He took off his hat and tossed it at her like a Frisbee as she retreated. It hit her back and dropped to the floor. She laughed and kept walking, not seeing Luke's lips curl up at that sweet sound.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Luke?"

"Hm?"

"Are you sleeping?"

"Trying to. My mind doesn't seem to want to shut off long enough for me to do that, though."

Lorelai smiled from where she lay in her bed. Luke was in his. The lights were out, and they had six and a half hours to get some sleep before they'd be back on the grind.

"Neither will mine," she responded. She turned her head over to him. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark pretty well. "Are you anxious?" she asked quietly.

He looked at her too. "I don't get anxious."

"Of course you do." She shrugged. "But you're Luke, so you do a really good job of hiding it."

He smirked. "That's what you think huh?" She nodded. He paused. "Promise not to tell anybody?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly."

"Die."

"What?"

"It's die. You said fly."

"Well, flying is scary too. I mean, you're up there with the intimidating bird formations and the 747's whizzing by. It's a pretty hectic environment, my friend."

"Jeez," he mumbled.

"So, you were just about to answer my question about your level of enthusiasm," she said when he didn't continue.

He thought for a moment, and his sheets rustled as he turned on his side toward her. "This isn't so bad. This whole thing…" he said hesitantly.

She turned on her side as well and just looked over at him. "_Sooooo_…you're excited about tomorrow?"

He rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't say excited. I'd _rather_ go with anxious. The smallest amount there is—an amount so small, it barely even qualifies."

She smiled widely. "But it counts."

He sighed. "It counts."

There was a long pause.

"You're not regretting this yet?" asked Lorelai.

"Not yet."

"Really?"

"Don't sound so shocked."

"Sorry, shocking things require shocking tones. It's in the rule book."

He shook his head. "Well, we have six days left. There's still plenty of time left for regret."

"I suppose you're right," she replied. He turned onto his stomach with a light grunt. "Don't go to sleep yet," said Lorelai.

"That's kind of why we're in these beds right now, Lorelai."

"I know, but don't you want to talk to me some more? Let's talk trash about the other teams. Ooh, or let's determine who we'd like to form an alliance with!"

"We already have an alliance. It's pre-determined."

She frowned. "You mean with Kirk and Marla," she said.

"Yep. Stars Hollow has to stick together til the end. Sorry."

"I want another alliance. I knew we should have established residency in Litchfield."

"Too late now, I guess."

She rested her head on her hand. "If we could pick someone else, who would you pick?"

"I dunno." He sounded tired all of a sudden.

"I'd pick the girls. They are so awesome. If I wasn't racing against them, I'd so be cheering them on."

"If you weren't racing, I'd _hope_ you'd still root for Stars Hollow."

"No, no, no. See, if I wasn't racing, that'd mean that I would have gone back in time and undone some stuff. So, while I was at it, I would have just gone ahead and taken care of that little residency issue too."

Luke sighed. "You think too much."

"No such thing."

"You've proven that there is."

She smiled. "Are you sleepy now?"

"Little bit."

"So, you're saying that my voice puts you to sleep? Five minutes ago, you and sleep were like distant cousins."

"Mmhm," he said groggily. "And now we're brothers. Siamese."

"I think I should be offended."

"No reason to be offended, Lorelai."

"And why is that?"

"Because…there's no reason to be offended, Lorelai," he repeated.

She laughed. "Well, when you put it that way…"

He wrapped his arms around his pillow and settled himself more. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sleepyhead."

She turned over with a smile and covered herself up to her neck.

…**TBC…**

Share your thoughts please! Another chapter will be posted before long.


	3. Chapter 3

Don't ever doubt the speed the updates! I have most of the story laid out so I'm just going through and tweaking a little or a lot! Trying to do it as fast as I can though. Enjoy this chapter. I believe there will be 2 more after this one.

**The Amazingly Different Race**** Part III**

Luke stood outside of the hotel dressed in jeans, T-shirt, and the sneakers he'd worn the day before.

With his large bag hiked up his back, he turned around to check the door to his and Lorelai's hotel room for the third time. He briefly wondered if he should just go back inside and get her. For five minutes he'd been standing there. At the beginning of that five minutes, he had left out of the hotel room with Lorelai telling him "I'll be right there. Ten seconds!"

He sighed as minute six fell away.

He gave a weary look to the man who held their first clue. They could only receive the clue as a team.

A door opened and closed in the distance. Lorelai's voice was heard.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she said quickly as she came to stand beside Luke. She wrapped her arm around his in apology. "Hair crisis," she explained.

Luke's eyes moved over her hair, and he frowned. "You have your hair in a ponytail," he said dully.

She nodded. "Exactly. And it's a cute one. You should have seen the tails of the first few ponies. They were horrendous." She let him go and reached for the card the unidentified man held out. "Thank you, sir." He gave her a kind nod. She slid her finger along the sealed edge as she continued to look at him. "Are you allowed to talk or are you like one of those British guards who have to suppress all human urges?"

Luke didn't give him an opportunity to say anything. "If he was like a British guard, he wouldn't have been able to hand us the envelope. Now, leave the man alone please and open the thing. We're already behind."

She got it open. "I know, I know. All my fault, blah, blah, blah."

Together, they unfolded the note.

_Good morning to you both!  
Hope you got a good night's sleep.  
A proper rest starts each day off right!  
Well…that and a good, hearty breakfast.  
Let's work on the latter, shall we?  
First, head to Briarsford Park.  
But not so fast. The rentals unfortunately turned back to pumpkins at midnight last night.  
Good thing there's always the city bus.  
Better hurry. The first team to the park gets a nice surprise!_

Luke looked at his watch. "The next bus leaves in sixteen minutes."

Lorelai looked at him, her eyes full of hope. "We can make that, can't we?"

He dropped his hand. "If we rush. We still have to find a way to the bus stop. How much money did they give us?"

Lorelai pulled bills from the envelope and counted it. "Thirty dollars," she answered. "How much would a cab be from here?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. About ten, I'd guess." He looked down at her. "We don't know if this money's intended for something else though. You want to spend ten bucks on this?"

She gave him a knowing look. "Do we have a choice? They had to have anticipated this. The bus runs every half hour, so there's no way anybody could make it there in less time than that without taking a cab."

"_Assuming_ they wanted to catch the _very_ next bus. A person could just be patient and plan for a later bus and—"

"And do what? Skate there?"

He shrugged. "Hey, it's not that crazy. Considering we don't know what lies ahead." He pointed to the money she held. "The very next challenge could require twenty-nine dollars, and then what would we do?"

"Cross that bridge when we get there." She looked at her own watch. "We now have fourteen minutes," she pointed out. "I vote for the cab. What do you say?" It was their best shot at putting some time between themselves and the five other teams whose time had not come to depart yet. One team—the women from Litchfield, now in first place—had already left. Another team had been eliminated the previous night.

Luke looked around as he thought. Finally, he tossed his hands out. "I vote for a cab too," he acceded. "Let's go with the cab."

"Hopefully, this is a good decision," Lorelai said, expressing her sudden doubt.

He nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully."

No sooner than the decision was made did a man and a young teen girl emerge from a nearby hotel room.

Lorelai noticed them and stopped.

"What are you doing? Come on," Luke said, grabbing her by the hand. Her other hand went over his.

"Wait, Luke, look."

He let her go. "At what? Them?" he asked pointing to two people who he _hoped_ were father and daughter.

"Yeah." She looked at him. "They have luggage."

"Okay. So?"

"So…maybe they're on their way to catch a flight at the airport."

"Yeah, and maybe they're on their way to 20,000 other places! Lorelai, we have thirteen minutes right now. We have to go!" He tried to take her hand again, but she moved it.

"Luke, what do you pass on the way to the airport?"

He stopped and took a breath. "We're not about to ask strangers to drop us off somewhere," he said when he realized what she was getting at. "And how do we know that they aren't taking a cab themselves?" He figured since they were in a hotel, there was a good chance they were.

"Because they're outside with their luggage, so if they were taking a cab, it would be here waiting," she said logically. She dropped her things before he could say anything else and jogged over to the man who had moved over toward a Durango.

"Oh my god, why hasn't this woman been committed yet?" Luke whispered to himself. He watched her closely to make sure the man didn't clonk her over the head and toss her in the back of his SUV. He could have sworn that not even ten seconds had passed before he saw Lorelai waving him over to the truck. The man smiled in his direction and started loading his and his daughter's things in the car a little quicker.

Luke quickly retrieved Lorelai's bag, along with his, and rushed over to the car. He gave Lorelai a disapproving look before covering it with a show of gratitude for the generous stranger.

They reached the station in eight minutes and boarded the bus with only a couple of minutes to spare. They plopped down in seats directly across from one another and tossed their bags on the empty seats.

Lorelai turned her eyes to Luke and smiled. "How much money do we have left?"

"What do you mean? Thirty dollars. You know that."

She nodded. "And do we have all of our fingers and toes?" He rolled his eyes away. "Our bodies—are they free of stab wounds?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," he said monotonously.

Her smile widened. "Then, it's safe to say that that spontaneous decision I made back there wasn't completely moronic…am I right?"

"Well, I—"

"Aaand," she added with a raised finger. "We caught our bus." Just as she said that, the bus took off toward Woodbridge. That's where Briarsford Park was located.

Lorelai searched Luke's eyes for signs of light. "So, to sum it all up: we caught our bus with all of our cash, all of our extremities, and all of our blood flowing through vessels and veins instead of out of puncture wounds. Sounds like a success to me. What about you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, not—"

"Based on what I just said _only_. No what ifs," she added quickly.

He twisted his lips in annoyance. "I guess so," he said half-heartedly.

"It's a success?"

Hesitation. "It's a success."

She reached over and gestured to the wide area of his chest. "All that pent up tension inside here is gone?"

He clenched his jaw in order to fight the smile he could feel about to break free. "Sure, whatever."

She smiled. "_Whatever_ isn't the answer I was looking for, but I'll take it. As long as you and I are good," she said, looking for reassurance.

He sighed and leaned on his knees, which were partially in the aisle. "We're good, Lorelai."

Lorelai took a heavy breath at hearing that. "Whew. Okay, glad that's all worked out." She relaxed and looked down at his head that hung low in front of her. She reached around, grasped the bill of his cap, and lifted it. "Let's try another way." With that, she put the cap back on his head with the bill in the front then pushed and pushed until it went all the way down over his eyes.

He lifted his head to her to allow her to see what she had done.

She laughed when she noticed the inability to see anything but his nose and mouth. She took hold of the bill once more and lifted it slow. His eyes came into view. "There we are," she said quietly. She lifted the hat and put it back the way it belonged. Noticing hair sticking up on the sides of his head, around his ears, she used her fingers to smooth it down.

They locked eyes and there were seconds of silence.

"Is it straight now?" Luke finally asked.

She nodded and looked down. Her hands fell away. "Yeah."

"Good," he said with playful bite. Lorelai smiled genuinely and was able to look at him again. "Now, try keeping your hands to yourself for the next 30 minutes of this ride," he finished.

"I'll try," she said cheekily.

He leaned back in his chair and slid down comfortably. His eyes went to the window, and he found nature to be a safe distraction.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

The park wasn't located far from the bus station, so walking from the station to Briarsford was a no brainer.

When Luke and Lorelai made it there, there was one team present. The Litchfield ladies. That would have made Lorelai's day if it weren't for the fact that they were about to leave. They'd just completed the challenge and were taking off on the next adventure.

"Let's move!" Lorelai called out as she started a quicker pace toward the huge set-up of the challenge. Luke followed behind her.

Tacked to a tree was a cloth sack with words 'READ ME' printed on it. Luke reached inside and took out an envelope. He opened it and began to read.

_Welcome!  
You two must be starving.  
Well, we definitely don't want that, so it's time to fill those tummies!  
Grab some hackey sacks and get to your starting line.  
You two will have a hand at feeding each other.  
Five tosses each. Ten tosses total.  
Now, that's what we like to call teamwork!_

Luke stuffed the paper back inside the envelope and led the way over to the set-up. He and Lorelai stopped behind a huge white line drawn on the grass. Race volunteers stood around to be sure no rules were being broken either intentionally or by accident.

Luke and Lorelai looked into the distance. A few yards away, there was a large square mat with pictures of different food items drawn onto it.

Lorelai went and retrieved a bucket of hackey sacks. She set it at their feet.

Luke looked inside. "I'm guessing we're supposed to throw these out onto the mat."

"That's my guess too."

He nodded. "Then what?"

Lorelai pointed over to a table full of blenders that undoubtedly played a large part in the challenge. "Then bon appétit," she responded.

Luke stood on his toes and stretched his neck to try to see some of the items on the mat. However, it was too far away, and there was a glare from the sun that made it even more difficult. He turned eyes to Lorelai. "It's impossible to see anything. As if the throw isn't gonna be hard enough," he complained.

Lorelai leaned down and picked up one of the sand-filled balls. "I hope they don't have things like slugs or any sort of animal testes on there."

"Oh god. Let's hope not."

She smiled. "So, _I_ throw to determine what _you're_ going to eat, and _you_ throw to determine what _I'm_ going to eat. Got it?"

He rolled his eyes. "No," he said plainly. "Break it down a little more for me, Lorelai. And be sure to talk slow and use hand gestures while you're at it."

She pushed him away. "Here, I'll go first and show you how it's done."

He backed up. "Throw good."

She swung her arm back. "I'll do my best," she said as she released the sack into the air. It landed. She looked over at Luke. "That sounded like a promising kerplunk." He shook his head. Again, she threw and waited for it to land. After three more throws, one of the race helpers went out and collected the hackey sacks. He wrote the item names on a clipboard and came back over. Lorelai looked at him excitedly. "Can I see it?"

The helper pointed at Luke. "After your partner goes," he answered.

She nodded. "Hurry up, Luke."

"Don't rush me. Or I may just go straight for the testes," he threatened.

"Don't you dare!" she said laughingly as if that was actually an item on the mat.

He smiled and gathered his hackey sacks.

Once Luke had taken his five throws, the helper went over and did his job once more. He gestured, and Luke and Lorelai met him at the table set up off to the side.

Lorelai clasped her hands. "Okay, what's my delicious concoction gonna be?"

Another helper gathered items from the list while Luke and Lorelai watched. He put five things into a blender and grinded it up. After pouring it into a tall glass, he set it in front of Luke, causing him to smile. His eyes went to Lorelai.

"Wow. Thanks for the great throws."

She smiled back. "Better be glad I like you," she said as if she'd hand-picked his blend.

Luke's drink consisted of bananas, grapes, grapefruit juice, chocolate pudding, and strawberries. Lorelai relaxed as she thought that maybe the selections weren't as horrible as she'd feared. Her smile stayed bright as she watched the helper begin to gather her items.

With the first item placed on the table, her smile disappeared. It only got worse from there. By the fifth item, her jaw was on the ground. She watched with disbelief. The man blended everything together and filled a glass just as big as Luke's. Only then did Lorelai look at Luke. He almost laughed, but her expression definitely killed that sudden urge.

"We are _so_ about to switch," she said seriously.

He sighed. "We can't switch, Lorelai."

"I don't care."

Luke looked at the people standing there. "Are we allowed to switch?" he asked, already knowing what the answer was. They shook their heads without pause. "See," he said to Lorelai.

"Luke!"

His eyes bugged out. "What are you _Luke_'ing me for?! I didn't do anything!"

"You're the one that threw the balls that landed on this disgusting crap!" She lifted her glass and sniffed the contents. She stifled a gag and set it back down. "This is so gross," she muttered.

Luke gestured at the glass. "It's food, Lorelai. It's all food. Just not the best combination. It'll be fine."

"Well, you drink it, then!"

"I would if I could," he said honestly. She met his eyes at that moment, and she appeared noticeably regretful for her tone toward him. "But I can't," he ended. "You can do this."

She dropped her eyes. "I'm being a poor sport, aren't I?"

Luke nodded. "Yes," he answered unapologetically.

"Thanks, Luke," she said in sarcasm.

"You're welcome." He picked both glasses up. "Now, let's drink these so we can go." She didn't take it. He held it out more. "Come on, Lorelai, we've got a lead that it'd be nice to keep. Take it."

She sighed and took her glass from him. With a scowl, she raised and examined it. "Wow, who knew sardines, half an onion, peaches, cornflakes, and lima beans could look so appetizing?"

Luke smiled. "I certainly didn't."

"Bet it tastes even better," she added emphatically.

"Only one way to find out." He lifted his brows at her then brought his glass to his lips as encouragement. He drank big gulps fast, making it appear effortless. He drank dutifully and savored nothing. With his blend, he could've definitely stopped to smell the roses a little. Lorelai watched until he was finished. Once every drop was ingested, he lowered his glass to the table. She remained unimpressed.

"Oh, how inspiring that was," she uttered.

He licked his lips and gestured to her. "Drink up. Time's a-wastin'."

With a deep breath, she brought the 32 ounce glass to her mouth. "Bottoms up," she said dismally.

Luke folded his arms and watched.

She drank a little and took the glass away. "Uuhuhughghgh!" she cried out. "That tastes _exactly_ how I thought it was going to taste! Talk about living up to the hype! My god."

"One sip down, 31 ¾ ounces to go."

"If halitosis had a flavor, this would be it," she grumbled.

Luke chuckled. "Lorelai, drink. the. drink."

"Putrid."

"I don't see you drinking."

She pinched her nose and brought the glass up again. Her eyes squeezed shut, and the glass slowly but surely began to turn up. Luke stepped closer.

"Just imagine…uh, strawberry shortcake with lots and lots of whipped…_fatty_ cream piled on top of sweet, moist slices of strawberries. Or better yet," He spoke slowly, "What about a _thick_, _juicy_, _hot_—"

She lowered the glass and swallowed with a grimace. "Okay, Luke, I know you're trying to help, but you're making me more horny than anything else." People standing at the table laughed, and Lorelai went back to drinking. Luke's face reddened. He closed his mouth and watched her power through the remaining contents admirably.

She set the empty glass on the table and put her hand over her mouth. Luke looked at her worriedly. "Are you gonna be okay?" She nodded but didn't take her hand down. "You sure?" he asked. Again, she nodded. Then, her eyes went to the men and women behind the table.

"Excuse me, what'll happen if I throw this up?" she asked shakily.

One of the ladies handed her a bag intended for that very thing. "Nothing. You've already completed the challenge by drinking it."

She brought her hand down and took the bag. "Thank you," she said kindly. She smiled. "Pardon me," she said, amusing everyone with her mannered composure. She hurried away and barely got the bag open before she was filling it with the horrible blend.

Luke took the next envelope from one of the people there and jogged over to where Lorelai stood bent over. He stepped over splatters that indicated she'd missed the bag a little. She coughed and coughed and continued to bring up the food. Luke stood by uncomfortably for a second before he noticed strands of her hair sliding from the loose ponytail holder. He moved in and gently pushed the hair back up. The strands started to fall again, and he caught them and just held them in place. His other hand lingered at his side undecidedly before he laid it on her back, giving it a job as well. He began a gentle rub there.

The vomiting stopped, but she continued to cough. Eventually, that slowed significantly.

She relaxed and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Luke's shoes since she was still bent over. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and folded up the bag. It was set on the ground at her feet, and she still remained low, her hands now resting on her knees.

"Wow, Luke." She took a breath and wiped her mouth again, returning that hand to her knee. "This must be really embarrassing for you."

He smiled.

His hand moved over her back without apprehension. "I'll get over it, I'm sure," he said, his tone so facetious.

She shook her head. "I know, but…" She smiled, wishing she could undo the whole puking episode, "…how are you going to move past this humiliation of yours?" she asked glibly.

He shook his head. Removing his hand from her back, he carefully slid her ponytail holder from her hair. "I'll just remember that saying," he answered.

She closed her eyes as she felt his light touch in her hair. He worked to get all strands together again. "What saying would that be?"

"You know the one." He paused and concentrated on re-tying the holder with all strands securely inside. That accomplished, he ran his hand down the ponytail and let it fall over her shoulder. Then, he stepped away. "_You're not a true friend to someone until you hold their hair while they barf_," he revealed. "That one."

She stood up with laughter and faced him. He smiled at her.

"Oh, that one?" she asked with an eye roll.

"Yeah." He pulled the envelope from his back pocket where he'd stashed it and held it up to her. "Ready to push on?" he asked lightly.

She nodded and picked up her bag.

He smiled and held his arm out for her to lead the way back to their bags. She looked at him momentarily before she lowered her eyes from his and followed his direction. He walked behind her.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have some gum?"

"Nah, sorry. But we definitely have to find you some. The drink smell was bad enough, but then you had to go and add the throw-up smell to it and—" She turned around and pushed him. He laughed and fell back in-step.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai fiddled with some screws while sitting Indian style on the floor. She watched Luke tighten a bolt. When he was done, he turned and looked at her.

She sat up on alert. "What do you need? A screwdriver? A hammer? The funnier shaped wrench? I'm here for ya, babe."

He smiled and pointed. "Just another one of those," he said referring to the bolts.

She picked one up quickly and passed it to him. "There ya go, Cap'n."

"Thanks." He turned back with an amused head shake. "Who knew you'd be so into this?"

She smiled. "Well, I feel kind of bad since you're having to do all the work," she admitted. "The least I can do is show a little enthusiasm, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

Luke turned back to the desk that he was working on.

When he and Lorelai arrived at the large Sears store, they found another "Detour" clue card. Choice one allowed them to choose one of many display items to set up. All items required time and quite a bit of skill since it was to be done without instruction. Lorelai scoffed at that since it was far out of her comfort zone.

The second choice was a lot more get-up-and-go. Each team that opted for that one would be given 5 mannequins. They'd receive clues that would indicate for them to dress each mannequin in everything from shades to kneepads. Everything, down to color of each item, would have to be accurate. If not, the team would be forced to begin again. If any mistake occurred, it would not be revealed until the mannequin was fully cloaked, and even then, the team would simply receive a 'yay' or 'neigh' without being given specifics. They were to determine where they went wrong by re-examining each clue. _Then_, after running around the store like idiots for all five mannequins' attire, the team would have to convince a total of 5 shoppers to buy one item from each mannequin. Only then would they complete the challenge.

Needless to say, it didn't take Lorelai long to reconsider the parameters of her comfort zone.

She watched Luke as he tightened the bolt. He was halfway finished and had been working for twenty-five minutes.

"Hopefully I get a chance to show off my skills eventually too, Luke. That way I can prove to you that I bring more to our team than my dazzling smile and personality."

He looked at her as she spoke then he turned back to his work. "Of course you bring more than that," he said easily.

She smiled bright. "You think so?"

He finished tightening the bolt and faced her. "Yeah, I do." She handed him another one. "You also bring plenty of stress," he ended. She gave the back of his head the evilest look she could muster. He went on. "But the smile and the personality part makes it a lot more tolerable."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yeah."

She thought for a moment, then smiled. "Good. Because it does."

He chuckled. "You're so easy."

"Nuh unh, mister. Don't let the pregnant-at-sixteen thing fool ya. It takes _work_ to get into these britches. We're talking Lobster bisque. Three-star accommodations. Limericks up the wazoo!"

He sighed but kept on working. "Can you for _once_ not say the very first thing that pops into your head?"

"Well, that'd make life a whole lot less interesting now, wouldn't it?"

"But all the quiet time would make it _oh-so_ worth it."

"Keep talking, Mr. Funny Man. I don't wanna get up and leave you here alone, but I will. And then who'll hand you what you need, huh? Who'll be the woman next to the man _then_, huh?"

He rolled his eyes.

Lorelai looked over to an area several feet away. Kirk was sitting there. In pretty much the same position she was in. He looked over at her too. A smirk crossed his face, and he pointed to his partner.

"We're almost done," he bragged.

Lorelai frowned in distaste and turned away. "Good for you, Kirk," she said.

"What about you guys?" he yelled over.

"We're doing just fine," she answered dismissively.

"This is a piece of cake. I think we're going to get our lead back with this!"

"You're not even doing anything, Kirk! Your partner is the reason you're almost done," Lorelai snapped.

"Well, you're not doing anything either! Your partner is saving you right now too!"

She looked back over and watched as Marla expertly worked on the exercise bike. Her attention went to Kirk and she wanted to remind him that while that was true, her partner, unlike his, was not an elderly _woman_. He definitely had more of a reason to sit and not bring attention to himself.

But Kirk hardly knew when to let sleeping dogs lie.

"Hey, when Marla and I win this whole thing, if you're nice to me, I may let you come over and gawk at my winners' trophy. Haha!"

Luke barked at him. "Zip it, Kirk!"

Kirk jumped at that outburst, and Lorelai chuckled.

"You don't scare me, Luke," he yelled after a moment.

"Then, why'd you jump, Kirk?" Lorelai taunted. "You're a wuuuusss," she teased. "Kirk is a wuss, Kirk is a wuss."

"Leave me alone!"

"Kirk is a wuss, Kirk is a wuuuuuuuuuussss," she sang.

"Leave me alooone!" he yelled louder.

Lorelai laughed. Luke turned and looked at her plainly. "Lorelai, leave him alone please."

"He keeps bothering me!" she defended. "You heard him."

"That doesn't matter." She sighed and closed her mouth. He went on. "It's Kirk. Do you want him to cry?"

She looked down to the screws in her hand. "It wouldn't hurt," she muttered mulishly.

"Lorelai."

"Okay, okay, whatever. I'm sorry," she said to him. She turned to Kirk. "I'm sorry, Kirk. You're not a wuss," she stated crossly.

He looked at her, his face showing how bruised his feelings were. After a few seconds, a smile broke through. "Apology accepted," he said.

Lorelai turned back around and continued to toy with the screws. "You're a super, colossal, mega, ultra crybaby wuss," she mumbled.

"Lorelai!"

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

_Hey, batter batter! Suh-wiiiing batter!  
Nothing beats throwing the old ball around on a warm spring day.  
Who's up for a game of catch?  
Take a cab over to the baseball field where the Little Cougars scored their first triple.  
The Woodbridge teams may have an advantage on this, so feel free to ask around a little.  
Look out for teams hot on your tail now 'cause when you get there, you won't be seein' much of anything!_

"Ooh, ooh!" Lorelai waved the paper in Luke's face. "It says on here for us to take a cab. It didn't say that on the one from this morning!" she noted.

Luke waited patiently until she stopped bumping his nose with the sheet. "Nice observation," he said dully.

Lorelai put the paper in a side pocket on her bag and lifted it onto her back. She strained unnecessarily at the heavy weight just showing that it was a heavier load than she preferred to have. Still, Luke went around to her rear and helped her slip it on. Once it was in place, he patted the bag.

"Okay, it's on. Let's go."

She moved to his side and they walked out of the Sears store, now fourth in line. The Litchfield ladies were second. The brothers had moved to first place, and the frat boys had completed the mannequin challenge minutes before Luke and Lorelai finished putting together the desk. Kirk and Marla had their clue and were reading it as the 2 L's left the store.

"Do you know where we're going?" Lorelai asked.

They made it outside, and Luke looked around. "Well, there are two baseball fields for little league here."

"I know."

"Question is, which one did the Cougars get that first triple play on?"

"So, to answer my initial question….?"

He rolled his eyes down to her. "No, I'm not sure where we're going."

She nodded. "Good enough."

Luke walked on. "Come on, let's get a cab."

"To where?"

"Not sure, but the cabbie may know, right? The Cougars are like the Dodgers of this town."

She shook her head. "I need a better example."

"What?"

"Another comparison. I'm not familiar with these…whaddya call 'em? _Dodgers_?"

Luke sighed. "The Cougars are like the…Elvises of this town," he rephrased.

"Elvises?"

Pause. "Beatles?"

"Beatles?" she questioned.

He frowned. "Well, damn, the Backstreet Boys then?!" She laughed. He spoke over her. "Whoever the hell you listen to."

She laughed some more. "How'd we get on music? I thought we were talking about baseball."

"We were, but you got confused."

"You could've gone with Red Sox. I looooove the Red Sox."

He looked down at her. "No, you don't," he said doubtfully.

She shrugged. "You're right. I don't. But you do." She looked up at him and smiled. "Impressed that I know something about you?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "No. What, have you been going through my trash or something?"

"Mmhm. Which reminds me, I found that empty tube, so that should mean that little rash in your private place has cleared up, right?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, all better now, thanks."

They both turned around at the sound of talking in the distance. Kirk and Marla had come out.

Luke took Lorelai's hand and sped up. "Okay, let's see about getting that cab now. What do you say?" he asked, not waiting for an answer. He sped up with her in tow.

"I guess I agree," she stated laughingly as she half-walked, half-ran to keep up with him.

They walked for only a few minutes before they were able to hail a cab. Luck proved to be on their side when they discovered the cab driver's knowledge of the Cougar's victory play. He stepped on the gas and took off in that direction.

Lorelai sighed heavily and brought her attention from the window on her side and over to Luke. "Hey, Luke?" He looked at her. She smiled. "How do you know who the Backstreet Boys are?"

He just stared at her wordlessly causing her to smile harder.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

All three teams that were ahead of Luke and Lorelai were already on the baseball field when they arrived.

That's how they determined what they had to do. Still, a lady came over and instructed them. She handed a blindfold to Luke and told them that each of them would be throwing softballs at the other in a game of Catch. The person throwing the balls, however, would be blindfolded. The one without the blindfold would have five areas around the field marked for them. They would have to stand within the marked area and instruct the thrower of where and how far to throw the ball so they could catch it. When the catcher caught five balls, they would switch places with their partner. Five new areas would be marked, and once that person got five too, the challenge would be complete.

Lorelai was the first to be blindfolded.

"Luke, where are you?" she called.

Luke had walked into the distance and was being told where to stand. "Right here!" he yelled from several yards away.

Lorelai nodded. One of the race helpers stood next to her to prevent her from panicking or falling flat on her face. She still felt a little vulnerable standing there without sight, so she wanted to be sure the person she did know and trust was still there.

"Are you ready?" she yelled just to hear his voice.

Luke was paying attention to the circles being drawn for him in the grass. "Not yet! They're still marking."

"Okay!"

"Don't worry, we'll let you know when to begin," the unfamiliar voice chimed in. Lorelai turned her face toward the voice and smiled.

"Thanks," she said respectfully.

The man that had walked out with Luke gave thumbs up to the lady beside Lorelai, and the challenge began.

"Okay, Lorelai—"

She threw a ball. Luke watched confusedly as it flew off in a completely different direction from where he was. "What are you doing? Wait until I tell you where to throw it!"

She shrugged. "Sorry, I was following your voice."

"Not very well!"

She threw another, and it went directly to him. He caught it then looked up at her in shock. "Nice throw!"

"You caught that?" she yelled.

"Yeah!" He moved to the next marked area.

"Damn. I was trying to hit you!" she exclaimed.

He shared a look with the race helper that stood beside him. "See what I have to deal with?" he asked rhetorically. The man smiled.

"Are you ready?!" Lorelai yelled loudly.

Luke got himself ready to catch. "Yeah! I'm at your ten o'clock!"

"Okay! Uh h-how many…clocks away are you, though?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know! About fifty feet!"

"Fifty feet?! I can't throw this thing fifty feet, Luke! I'm a girl!"

He scowled. "What does that have to do with anyth—thirty feet, Lorelai. Throw it thirty feet," he said in annoyance.

She threw it into the air with a light grunt. Luke caught it easily from fifty feet away. He rolled his eyes and moved to the next position.

"Did you catch it?"

"Yeah. Good thirty feet throw," he said with a head shake.

Her hands shot into the air excitedly. "Yay! I rock!"

"Rock three more times before you do that," he suggested. "I'm at your three o'clock now." She turned. "Now, I'm at your twelve o'clock."

"Kay."

"Imagine you're in front of my diner." She nodded. "Throw it to Miss Patty's studio." She threw it, and he reached forward as much as he could without going outside of the circle but ended up missing it. "Almost. You undershot it."

"Well, wait, did you want me to throw it to the steps or to the actual door of the studio?"

He rolled his eyes. "The door, why not?" She threw it and he caught it. "Got it." He moved much further away to the fourth circle.

Lorelai bounced around. "Come on, Luke. Hurry up while I'm still on _Fiyaaah_!"

He chuckled. "One o'clock!" he yelled.

"Ooh, you sound far."

"I am. Just throw it about thirty…_five_ feet this time," he said after a short pause. The man next to him laughed a little, and Luke shrugged. Whatever worked.

"But the thirty feet one was so hard!"

"You can do it, Lorelai. Come on!"

She threw it. She put a lot of focus on her distance and forgot about aim. It sailed off in her ten o'clock position.

Luke watched the ball bounce past another team. He clapped again. "That was close!" he said supportively. "Try it again. Remember, I'm at your one o'clock!" She shook her arm out tiredly. "Come on, Lorelai. Two more balls, and that's it!" She picked up another and threw it. It fell a few feet short, and Luke continued to encourage her. "That one was really close. Do what you just did again, but a little harder, okay?"

The next ball she threw fell inches out of Luke's circle. He kept both feet planted and reached for it. He caught it, held on for about two seconds, then lost his balance and fell down. "Umph!" The man that moved with him from circle to circle helped him up and let him know that the catch had, indeed, counted.

Lorelai held her hands out to her sides. "What happened with that one, Luke?" she yelled. "Did you catch it?"

He dropped the ball to the ground and brushed himself off. "Yeah!" he yelled back. "…As painful as it was," he mumbled to himself.

"Ready for the last one?"

He jogged over to the final circle and got in position. "Yeah, I'm ready!"

"Where are you?" she asked as she threw another ball.

He reached one hand outside the circle and snagged it. "Right here!" he said with a smile. He walked over to meet her. "Take the blindfold off before you hurt somebody," he said. She slid it off and looked around wide-eyed.

"We're done?"

"With this part, yeah. Let's switch."

She nodded and passed him the blindfold. She, then, got ready to take off in order to take his place in the field, but he grasped her wrist causing her to stumble back. "What's up?" she asked with a laugh.

"Why are you laughing?"

She looked down at where he held her. "Nothing. Just wasn't expecting you to give me whiplash," she teased.

He let her go. "Sorry."

She hit his arm. "I'm joking with you. What do you need?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Can you…actually catch a ball?"

"Oh, that's what you're so worried about?" she asked heedlessly. "If so, then don't sweat it. I catch _just_ as good as I throw," she reassured with a wink. She turned and trotted off.

Luke's chin dropped to his chest and he smiled. "Oh boy."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai lowered her bag beside the bed of their new hotel room.

"We were first to the pit stop. I think that should count for something, don't you?"

"It does. We get to brag about being first. That seemed to be enough for you out there," Luke replied while pointing to the door that led outside. "With all that jumping and yelling you were doing, I'd think it would be."

"But I want the spa prize!" she whined.

"Well, too bad. We didn't _get_ the spa prize."

Lorelai gave Luke a weary look. "You know, I love how through everything, you're always able to bring sensibility to any situation."

"It's always good to be appreciated." He sat on the edge of the bed and threw his bag behind him.

Lorelai sat on her own bed and stared ahead thoughtfully. "Do you think that if I hadn't been late this morning, we could have caught the same bus as the Litchfield witches, made it to the park before them, and claimed the special spa prize?"

Luke looked at her and sighed. "Litchfield witches? When'd they become Litchfield witches? Last night, they were _so awesome_," he said mocking her.

"They became witches when they claimed that great spa night. Now, they're off getting pampered and we're not!"

He shrugged. "They earned it."

"They _stole_ it!"

"No, they didn't," Luke replied breezily. "They did better than us yesterday, and they got a head start today. Maybe we'll get some great prize tomorrow with the head start we'll get. Don't put 'em down for doing a good job."

Lorelai crossed her legs and leaned on the bed facing him. "You know, Luke, you're starting to sound more and more like Dr. Phil."

He shrugged and stood up. "As long as I don't start to look like him, I'll live."

"We're teammates here. I gripe, you gripe. You don't kick me while I'm griping. That's just wrong."

He smiled. "Sorry."

She laid back. "What are you doing?" she asked as he moved across the room.

"I'm gonna go sit out by the pool until dinner."

"Why?"

He grasped the door. "It's nice out. I'll just sit out there and relax a little bit."

"You can do that in here."

He smirked and turned the knob. "But I'm doing it out here," he replied. He got the door open and started to step out.

"Wait. You're not going to ask me if I want to go?" she asked. She looked down the bed at him. She was on her back, and she had her feet flat on the bed. Her heels were against her bottom, and she held each of her ankles.

He lifted his eyebrows. "_Do_ you want to go?" he asked doubtfully.

Her tone was defensive. "Well, not if you don't want me to."

He shrugged. "I really don't care either way."

She took her cue from his lack of enthusiasm. "Forget it. Just come back in when you get ready to go to dinner, so I at least won't have to go there by myself."

Luke stepped away from the door, and it closed on its own. He went over to the bed and tapped her ankle. "Come on, let's go talk by the pool," he said airily.

Her eyes were on the ceiling. "It's fine, Luke. Go do your alone thing. I'll be in here having fun by myself."

"Should I…stick around and watch this…alone time fun?" he asked jokily.

Her eyes dropped to him, and he smiled. She didn't look very amused until he came closer. Then she smiled a little. He placed both his hands on her knees and looked down at her. She smiled more. "I'm requesting your company by the pool, Lorelai. Are you gonna let me down?"

He moved his hands to her ankles and brought them over the edge of the bed. She lay there looking at him. He stood below her, between where her legs parted. His eyes danced down her body in the most subtle way. When they made it back to her face, he found her looking at him unblinkingly.

Neither spoke.

Loud talking from outside brought them back. Luke's eyes turned to the window then back to Lorelai.

He sighed. Smiled. "You coming or what?"

She sat up on the bed and stood. "Definitely coming."

He nodded and opened the door for her. After grabbing the card key from the dresser, he followed her out.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke stood looking upward.

His face showed uneasiness and fear that what was up would come tumbling down.

"Lorelai, please be careful."

Lorelai looked down at him from where she was. She regretted it instantly and squeezed her eyes closed. "Really shouldn't have done that," she whispered to herself.

"Don't look down!" Luke yelled.

She smiled to herself. "Where was that advice ten seconds ago, buddy?" she said, again to herself. With a deep breath, she searched out the next handle on the rock climbing wall. " _'Shootin at the walls of heartache- bang, bang- I am the warrior. Well, I am the warrior. And heart to heart, you'll win.. if you survive..' _" she sang quietly. She grasped the handle tightly and swung her body to the next height and rooted all limbs. With both her feet now firmly planted and her other hand hanging on, she shook out the hand that she'd just used to carry her entire weight.

Luke's very loud cheers let her know how impressed he was by that. She could feel strength slipping away. Pain raced through her arms and actually brought tears to her eyes. She wanted to throw in the towel so very badly. But that wasn't an option. She took a breath and looked at the last two levels she had to endure before she reached the end.

"Come on, Lorelai," she whispered.

"Come on, Lorelai! I know you can do it!" Luke yelled.

She smiled. Took a deep breath that had that smile disappearing. She shook off all thoughts that didn't have to do with reaching the top as she carefully placed her sore hand back on the peg.

" '_Who's the hunter? Who's the game? I feel the beat; call your name. I hold you close in victory…'_ " She grimaced as she used both hands to pull herself up where there were fewer pegs and more uneven rock. Without panicking she blindly searched for an area to rest at least one of her feet. Her fingers screamed in pain. Her eyes squeezed tight. " _'I am the warrior…'_ " she sang, her voice strained.

Luke's voice broke through the boom, boom, boom of her own heart. "Oh god, oh god, oh god," she started to say, replacing the sound of Scandal.

Luke's yelling was loud. Her pain became louder. Letting go suddenly didn't seem like such a bad thing.

By climbing _this_ rock—the rock she was on—and succeeding, that would give her and Luke an automatic fast-forward to the pit stop. That would give mp3 players to both her and Luke. Luke probably didn't know what one of those things even did. He'd give it to her, and she'd give it to Rory.

Damn, she wanted those mp3 players.

But as she hung on the rock, none of that seemed important. Her fingers felt like they were about to snap right off.

"….left….just….foot…!!"

She breathed. In, out. She wished she'd paid a little more attention before making her move. Because she couldn't remember where she had planned to go. And as she hung from the rock, going by feel didn't work, and sight was out of the question. Her eyes couldn't open because the pain was too severe.

"….elai….lift….!!"

That voice was Luke's. All the noises—her breathing now the loudest—and she heard him screaming like his life depended on it.

She clenched her teeth then opened her mouth and breathed like she was back in Lamaze class. Her eyes opened, and she stared at rock. "Shit," she muttered. Her eyes closed once again. Pain, pain, pain all over. She swallowed, breathed. Calmed herself down as she hung on by fingers that begged for mercy.

Luke's voice came in clearer.

"Lorelai. Lift. your. Right. Foot….like….angle…."

His voice faded out. Lorelai told herself to breathe. She told herself to concentrate. Her mind slowly slipped away from the pain. It didn't seem that it could get any worse, and she wasn't giving up, so when she made the choice to ignore it, it seemed to lessen. She swallowed with relief at being able to hear her own thoughts once again. Along with her thoughts came Luke's words.

She listened.

When she felt the hook beneath her right foot, she actually cried out with relief. Somewhere in the world, a Hallelujah chorus broke out in her honor. One by one, Lorelai inspected her aching fingers.

"One more, Lorelai! One more and we're home free! You can do it!"

Lorelai looked up at the last level and frowned. " _'Lorelai that climb looks really difficult. Let's just do the regular wall challenge. Don't worry about the fast-forward.' 'No, no, I can do it, Luke. I can. Just you wait and see!' _" she replayed aloud. She rolled her eyes at her earlier words. "Idiot," she finished.

"Come on, Loreeeelai," Luke whooped.

She took a heavy breath. "Well, here goes nothing," she whispered and reached for the next peg.

---

Lorelai's dead weight was lowered slowly down the rock.

Lots of people stood around. She watched them get larger and larger as she got closer to the bottom, and all she could do was smile.

Individuals that ran against her as her competition clapped for her. She and Luke now had a free pass to the day's finish line—ahead of all teams—and they clapped for her. She wanted to hug them all. Seeing the floor get closer and closer made her want to hug the entire world.

Her feet hit earth, and Luke was there to steady her.

She looked at him with exhaustion.

"I did it," she said with as much excitement as she could gather. He smiled and watched as the helpers unhooked the cords from her body.

As happy as she was to be back on solid ground, she still laughed when she was lifted off of it. "Luke!" she shrieked. He spun her halfway around with her legs lifted up behind her. She hugged him tightly for security, but almost as soon as it began, it was over. He put her back down, and she was left with fits of giggles as he looked at her with a controlled smile of his own.

"You have no idea how proud I am of you right now," he said.

She stretched and shook her fingers with a grin that showed none of the throbbing. "Thanks, Luke."

They turned and were handed a large arrow with stacked pointed ends that represented their fast-forward. On it were the exact directions to the day's pit stop. It was in Woodsbury—45 minutes away. Luke and Lorelai shared a smile after reading then went to collect their bags from the ground. Luke secured his on his back, then picked up Lorelai's.

She turned so that he could help her get it on her back.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I've got it."

She faced him. "What?" she asked, surprised.

He got it situated in his hand. "I'll carry it," he reiterated.

She chuckled a little. "So, I get us a fast-forward and all of a sudden, you're Mr. Chivalry?"

He released a breath. "Do you want me to carry it or not?"

She still entertained amusement. "Oh, yes. Definitely."

He rolled his eyes and turned away. "Let's go.

"Right behind you, Superman."

Luke shook his head at that. But still, as he walked in front of Lorelai, he made a conscious effort not to show any signs of strain or burden. He carried over 20 pounds of luggage in his hand, not to mention the weight on his back. But at Lorelai's words, he suddenly took on the mindset that she'd had while suspended on the rock. Giving up was simply not an option.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

The newest hotel had an indoor pool. Lorelai sat on one of the provided loungers with the plugs to her new mp3 player in her ears. It was only 4pm, and none of the other teams had completed whatever activities they had to do for that day.

She wore a Tankini but had it covered with a towel from her navel to her knees. Too many old, unattractive men who looked a little too interested were lurking around the area. Dark shades covered her eyes, so whatever held her focus was unclear. But when Luke moved, so did her head.

She sang absently to the music that played.

Luke emerged from beneath the water and squeezed water from his eyes. He looked around, then dipped back under. He swam to the other side, came up for a second, then did another lap. Again and again, he swam the length of the pool. A toddler and her parents occupied one corner but that was all. He pretty much had the pool to himself. For nearly an hour, he swam. It was easy to see when he got tired because his strokes slowed. He waded a bit, dog-paddled, and floated. Finally, he lifted himself from the pool and just sat on the edge while kicking his feet in the water.

After a moment, he looked over at Lorelai. Her fuchsia-colored bathing suit made her easy to spot. He smiled at the large dark shades that she wore indoors. She smiled back instantly which meant her eyes had been on him. She waved at him, and he waved too, but his wave signaled her over.

She bundled the towel and stood slowly, her legs appearing to be asleep from all the sitting. She took the earplugs from her ears and left them on the chair along with the towel. As she made her way over to Luke, his eyes went from her to the water. Her bikini bottoms wouldn't leave him much choice of where to look if he remained looking at her.

She made it to him and used his bare shoulder to sit down.

"Tired yourself out, did you, Champ?"

He smiled at her comment and looked down at her naked thigh lined against his. She kicked her feet gradually beneath the clear water.

Luke pointed at the pool before them. "You don't want to swim any?"

She shook her head. "Nah."

"You sure? It's pretty relaxing."

She continued to kick her feet, and she looked at him with a smile. "What is it, Luke? Do you want to see me all wet?"

He smirked and dropped his eyes back to the water. "Just trying to sell the appeal, that's all."

She nodded idly and continued moving her legs. After a few glances at Luke as he did the same thing with his legs, she playfully bumped his wet arm with her dry one. "Hey. Never saw you in little itty bitty shorts before," she teased.

"There's nothing itty bitty about these. They're standard swimming trunks," he defended. She shrugged. He pointed to her. "And I never saw you in…._this_ before," he countered. "What's your point?"

She shrugged. "It's just new."

"Yeah. Guess it is."

"That's my point."

"Kinda figured," he followed. She sighed. He looked at her and frowned in the next second. "Why don't you take these things off," he said reaching for her shades. She pushed his hand away.

"Don't you know it's rude to undress a girl in public, you imbecile?!"

"Since when is removing shades undressing somebody?" he asked.

"It's a part of my ensemble, isn't it?"

"No."

"Of course it is. It completes the look. I'm going for the celebrity-girl-who-wants-to-hang-by-the-pool-without-being-hounded-by-the-paparazzi look."

Luke nodded considerately. "Hm. One problem, though."

"What's that?" she asked.

He got in her face. "You're not famous, Crazy woman." His tone was low and deep. She smiled, his eyes so close to her covered ones. He backed up, took his feet from the water, and stood.

She followed him. "Hey, I can pretend to be famous!" she countered. "There's nothing wrong with pretending, is there?"

As he walked toward the door, he pointed over to a couple of ten year old children entering the large room. "For them, no." He pointed back to the little 2-year old who still played in the pool with her parents. "For her, no." He, then, pointed at Lorelai. "For you? Most definitely."

Lorelai scoffed and grabbed her things. She caught up to him. "Who are you to determine when I should grow up?"

He tossed his hands up. "Fine, whatever. Continue on with your Peter Pan syndrome. I won't say anything else," he ended with playful indignation.

"Stop the press!" she exclaimed, following his lead. "Are you telling me that you'll go from saying one or two cynical things a day to none at all? Oh, how different my life will be!" she proclaimed.

He rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke and Lorelai made it back to their hotel room.

Lorelai entered first, and Luke closed and locked the door when he came in behind her.

"You really should have brought a shirt or something down there with you," he mentioned. On the way back, Lorelai had heads turning in every direction. She had the towel wrapped around her middle even though she hadn't been in the pool, but her top half remained uncovered.

Luke slipped off the shirt that was now slightly wet since he hadn't dried off completely before putting it on.

"Sure, blame me," Lorelai said of his statement.

"I'm not _blaming_ you. I'm just saying."

"Yeah, well, it's just a bathing suit. If the gross, liver-spotted men in this hotel can't handle a bathing suit, then they have more issues than I can help them with by putting on a shirt."

Luke took his towel and dried his hair some more. "I don't think it was the _bathing suit_ they couldn't handle," he followed casually.

Lorelai was lying on her side, facing Luke's bed. Her forearm supported her upper body on the mattress, and her head lay idly on her shoulder as she looked over at him. She still had the towel around her waist, and her legs, which hung off the bed, were crossed to maintain comfort in her position.

Of course she knew it wasn't the bathing suit that had them all beside themselves. That went without saying.

"If it wasn't the bathing suit, then what was it?" she asked anyway.

He looked at her as he continued to dry his hair. There was a brief pause. "I don't know. Maybe it was those stupid sunglasses, which for some unclear reason, you are _still_ wearing," he finally replied.

She still looked at him through the lenses. There was a lengthy pause on her end as well. The subject change had taken place without her okay.

"Well, they're cute," came her delayed response.

"Not exactly," Luke said as he tossed the towel on his bed.

She tapped her fingers languidly on the bed as she watched him. He grabbed his bag and started pulling out clothes as he searched through. Lorelai turned on her back and let her thoughts wander back to the race. It was 5:30pm, and no one had arrived yet. That was understandable since the last challenge usually took place at around six or seven, depending on what it was. She wondered what the remaining teams were doing at that very moment.

"You know what I wish?"

Luke glanced up from his bag. "No, what's that?" he asked.

She squinted at the ceiling through her dark shades. "I wish we could have won a spa prize."

He rolled his eyes. "Let it go," he drawled. "The spa day is gone, Lorelai. Make your peace with it."

She looked at him briefly with a smile. "No, I have. I've moved on."

"Doesn't sound like it."

"I have, though." She sighed. "I'm just a little wound up right now, so that's why it popped into my head." She brought her hands over her head and fingered her hair. "Some hot rocks on my back would soooooo hit the spot right now."

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it would."

"A massage," she added languorously. "My god, what I wouldn't give for a full. body. massage."

Luke shook his head, smiling at the thought. "Even I could go for one of those." Suddenly, he picked up a pair of his folded up socks and threw them at Lorelai. "Hey, don't try to drag me into your spa-obsessed craziness."

She laughed and tossed the socks back on his bed without much movement. "Sorry," she said.

He found what he was looking for and started folding things to place back inside his bag. "So, you're wound up?"

She nodded with her eyes closed behind the shades. "Like a kid's play toy," she answered.

"Should've taken a few laps in the pool. It helped me."

"That wouldn't have helped me."

"Might've."

"No, it _wouldn't_ have helped me," she stressed with a small chuckle.

He shrugged. "Just a suggestion."

Lorelai took a breath and frowned. "Spas help me." Luke rolled his eyes. "Well…spas and _sex_," she clarified jokily.

Luke smirked. "Well, I don't know about the spa thing, but judging by all the stares you got on the way up here, I'm sure there are plenty of guys here who'll help you out with that second thing."

She shook her head. "Hey, with the way I feel right now, I may just go try to snag one of 'em."

He stopped and gave her a look. "Please be kidding." Last thing he wanted was to be consumed by worry while she was off with a strange man.

She laughed. "I'm kidding."

He sighed heavily. "Thank God."

She turned her shaded eyes to him and lifted a lazy finger at him. "Why would I get one of those guys when I have my buddy, Luke, here?" she asked playfully.

He continued to pack. "Be kidding with that one too," he said dismissively.

She shrugged with animation. "Maybe I are…maybe I aren't," she finished flamboyantly.

"Nice English."

"So, what's the dealio, dude? You wanna get it on with me for relaxation's sake?"

"Lorelai."

"I can make ya feel reeeeeal good," she said with a goofy smile.

He stopped and released a breath. "Lorelai," he said, his tone solemn. "Stop that."

"_You're_ hot. _I'm_ hot. _I_ like sex. What about you?"

He looked at her, his expression so serious. Finally, he just shook his head and looked down. He continued packing, stuffing things in his bag more aggressively. "Nice to know you take me for a joke," he said calmly.

Lorelai slid to a sitting position and finally took off her sunglasses. "Hey," she said quietly. He didn't say anything, and he gave no indication that he'd heard her at all. "Luke?" she called again in the same tone. His jaw clenched, but he kept doing what he was doing. She placed the shades on the bed and got to her feet.

"Luke, stop," she said as she placed her hand on top of the clothes he was gearing to pick up. His eyes went to her, and he looked uninterested in whatever she had to say. She shrugged. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. He appeared unmoved. Just stoic as he looked at her. Then, in the blink of an eye, the look vanished. He gave her an easy nod that showed acceptance.

She didn't know exactly where she was going with that whole thing a minute ago, but she had _no idea_ that he would take it so seriously.

Her eyes moved between his. "I'm sorry," she said again unnecessarily. "I-I don't take you for a joke. I don't." She seemed uncomfortable at revealing the next words that stumbled from her lips. But they came out regardless. "You…mean…a lot to me, and…I don't ever want you to think differently."

He swallowed and nodded again.

Lorelai relaxed a little at seeing that. "Okay?" she whispered.

"Okay," he said with another nod.

"Okay?" she whispered again, a mild fear in her eyes.

He nodded with more resolution. "Okay."

"We're good?" she asked quietly.

He nodded, his lips now parted. He watched her eyes get closer. "Yeah," he said shakily.

"I'm really sorry," she whispered softly. She'd gotten close. And she continued to move closer. Luke felt the breath from that last word on his lips. He closed his eyes. "…Luke. I'm…" Her lips brushed his. "...I'm sorry," she finished inaudibly. Her lips came together over his. He lifted his hands to her face and gently tilted her head back. Both sets of lips parted and without delay, they used their tongues to take it deep. Lorelai grasped his bare sides and stood on her toes more to get maximum fulfillment from the passionate kiss.

Each of them attempted to match the other's passion and only succeeded in taking the connection to an impressive peak.

Lorelai's towel fell to the floor when Luke wrapped his arms around her waist. She hugged his neck tightly, not willing to chance a disentanglement. Luke wore nothing but swimming trunks, and with Lorelai's continuous movement against his body, it was no time at all before they became way too tight. They kissed more. He took his head to the side and kissed her neck, then took skin between his teeth.

She moaned. Said his name.

He moved his mouth from the side of her neck, to the middle, then down her clavicle. He slowed down and placed light kisses all over the area decorated by freckles. She shivered. Luke stood up straight and brought his mouth back upon hers. They both moaned.

The level of intensity they shared was mind-numbing.

Lorelai was pressed onto Luke, and he stood against the wall. He moved forward, and she moved back. They passed his bed that had clothes scattered all over and moved over to Lorelai's. Luke sat at the bottom and spread his knees. Lorelai moved between them, and he held her while looking up at her. Her thumb went back and forth over his bottom lip.

"You sure you want to do this?" he whispered.

He ran his hands along her half-naked body, and she seemed unable to slow her breathing. At his question, she leaned down and met his lips in a slow, deep kiss. Luke took that as affirmation. He returned that passion until she pulled away. His hands went to her straps and he slowly pulled them down, making sure to not appear too anxious. He paced himself with a heavy swallow. His eyes went to hers, and she was looking at him, her breaths coming through her lips.

Luke ran a slow-moving tongue over his lips and let his eyes fall to her exposed breasts. He swallowed again and touched her. A soft, curt moan floated to his ears. He met her eyes briefly then took focus back down. His hand softly cupped her breast, and he heard the same sound. He moved a gentle hand from one to the other like he could not believe what he was being allowed to do.

Lorelai's hand went to his shoulder, then the back of his neck. She caressed in such a sensual way that Luke was automatically able to determine that she was ready for more. She patiently begged for more with that small gesture.

He pulled her in by her waist. Lorelai went. She immediately leaned low and initiated another tongue round. Her knee went to the mattress on the side of him. He hugged her tight, and her other knee went to the other side. Luke remained vertical. They kissed for a long, passionate minute then broke.

Lorelai reached between them and touched him through his shorts. He leaned in and sucked her neck. She told him how good it felt. Her hands slid over his muscular frame, then went again to his still covered erection. She moved closer and grinded slowly against him.

They kissed again.

Again, she touched it. She remained amazed at how he continued to grow.

Her mouth moved to his ear, and she whispered something that made him laugh. She smiled then kissed him silent. She held his face as he skillfully returned her passion. Her hand moved down the prickly hairs of his jaw, through the hairs on his chest, down his hard stomach and to the waistband of his shorts. She moved inside and wrapped her hand around his heated organ.

His hips rose and fell into her grip.

That aroused her just as much as it did him. She removed her hand from his shorts and quickly pulled the top of her bathing suit up and over her head. Luke laid back and she climbed off of him. In the next second, both were completely naked, and Lorelai was once again straddling his waist.

She kissed his chest and licked and sucked each nipple. His erection rubbed against her. She reached between them and put his tip onto her clit. Her hands went back around him, and they kissed. She pulled away. Two slow, rocking winds and she had him inside. They paused and shared a long look. He steadily slid deeper and deeper with no encouragement from either of them. Lorelai whimpered and brought her lips in. Luke moved hair away from her face. Her lips went to his, and she kissed him sweetly. She disengaged then went back in with the passionate, deeper kiss as she started to move.

Luke lifted his pelvis and sent his inches in a promising direction. She moaned. After several minutes, those moans led to a climax that had her moving her own pelvis like a mad woman. She grasped the covers on the mattress and rode the long wave of her orgasm. Movement from her hips continued and gave Luke an added feeling to the steady beating of her intimate walls.

He came to release and held her tight. A strained grunt filled the room.

Lorelai's winding continued for seconds more. With one satisfied breath, she hung her head and allowed time for her breathing to slow.

It took a minute for them both to come down off of the feeling they'd created together.

The next minute found Lorelai's head still hanging. Luke fidgeted a bit. Lorelai straightened her arms, and little by little, her face came into view. Her and Luke's eyes met. He looked away nervously, and Lorelai's eyes fell to his chest. He looked at her again, but all he saw was the top of her head.

"Uh y-you okay?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him fast. "Yeah, yeah, I'm great." She smiled. "Thanks."

He took a breath and nodded. He cast several glances down his stomach, then finally spoke. "You want me to…um…" He pointed down. Lorelai flushed. She put loose hair behind her ear.

"Uh…no," she finally answered with another smile. "I-I can do it." She put a hand on his chest for leverage, then took it away like it was a hot burner. "Sorry."

He nodded quickly, a little put off by the reason for an apology when five minutes ago…

Lorelai steadied herself using the bed. She slowly pulled her body off of his and moved to the side of him, making a conscious effort not to look at him in the buff. Luke reached behind his head and picked up the pillow. He put it over his middle region and looked over at Lorelai. At the same moment that he had reached for a pillow, she'd reached for one too. She now had it against her body, turned vertically.

They met eyes and laughed a little.

Lorelai shook her head, still with amusement. She pointed. "Um I'm gonna go take a shower," she said whisperingly.

He nodded. "Okay. Me too." Both their eyes went wide, and Luke clarified. "_After_ you…I mean. I-I-I'm gonna uh, um shower after you _get out_…of the shower."

She smiled widely at his fluster. "Good enough," she said quietly. She slipped from the bed and held the pillow at her side before hurrying quickly into the bathroom.

Luke laid back, and his hands went to his face. "Smooth, man."

…**TBC…**

Uh oh, what's going to happen with Luke and Lorelai? Will they pretend that nothing ever happened? Will they abandon the race and go to the islands to make mad passionate love? Will Christopher show up and steal our girl's heart? Will you all be able to forgive me for bringing that little b#tch's name up in my story just now? Only time will tell! Update 4 coming soon. Review please!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey all! Just to clear up something: There will be **NO** inclusion of the sperm donor. For those who have actual worry, what I said the end of the last chapter was a joke. Please don't panic lol. As for the story, there definitely will be five chapters. Chapter five is just shaping up to be the longest. But _definitely_ five total. Thanks for all the love too! You all are _far_ too kind. Enjoy chapter four!

**The Amazingly Different Race**** Part IV**

Luke came from the bathroom in boxer shorts and a thin sleeveless shirt.

His fingers nervously pulled at the back of his hair as he rounded the corner back into the room. Lorelai was sitting on her bed by the pillows. Her right foot was on the mattress in front of her, and she was tying the string to her tennis shoe. She looked up and saw Luke.

"Hey," she said timidly. She lowered her leg to the floor. She looked him up and down briefly. "Had a good shower? I hope I didn't leave too much water on the floor. There wasn't a towel or anything that I could--"

He held up a hand. "It was fine. Thanks." He stopped and leaned against the wall by his bed.

She nodded, her eyes glued to him. "Um…" Luke looked at her without reservation. He lifted his eyebrows, questioning whether or not she was going to finish her thought. She gestured at him. "You want to sit down for a sec?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm good."

"Okay." She looked around pointlessly for a moment then took a breath and returned attention to him. "We need to talk," she said, her eyes squinted in apology.

Luke bit his lip, looked around, and gave one large accepting nod. "You think it was a mistake," he said knowingly.

Her eyes went wide and she looked at him sideways. "I…uh" She shook her head confusedly, "_don't_ think it was a mistake. But..it's nice to know how you feel."

He shrugged. "I don't feel that way," he said simply. "It just sounded like you were about to say that."

She shook her head. "Well, I wasn't."

"Good to know."

She looked at him considerately. "Listen, I don't regret that it happened, ya know? I mean, you regret one-night stands with old fat guys named Bubba," she said lightly. She gestured at him. "Not with your best…Luke," she ended with a smile. He nodded at her but gave no expression.

"So, what happens from here?" he asked in a clipped tone.

"Don't…sound like that…okay?"

"Like what?"

She sighed. "Like I'm saying something that I'm not."

"So, what _are_ you saying?" he asked, trying to keep emotion from his voice.

She stood up. "I'm saying that we don't have to figure this out right now, Luke. We're in a hotel room, for god's sake. This isn't us—this isn't our element! I'm not shutting the idea of you and me down. I'm just suggesting that we finish the race, get back to Stars Hollow—back in our _everyday environment_—then see what we can see."

He deliberated for a moment. "So, you're saying that you just want to--"

"—snap a cork on it until we get back home," she finished, happy that he didn't sound slighted. "Let's just be Luke and Lorelai for now."

He nodded as thoughts noticeably bounced around in his head. Finally, he shrugged. "Okay."

She moved away from the bed cautiously. "You're okay with that?"

He took a tired breath. "Yeah," he answered honestly. "That's fine."

She smiled with relief and kept inching over. "Good. And I'm sorry. I know I joked about it, but I really do get a little…_ya know_…when I'm wound tight." He rolled his eyes and she smiled. "And then you made that 'see you as a joke' comment, and…" She shrugged. "The last thing I see you as is a joke. So, that kind of brought out some..." She paused. "You know?"

"Yeah. I get it," he said quickly.

She nodded. Sighed. She now stood at the end of his bed, a couple of feet from him. "So, uh…back to friends?"

He pulled at his hair again and gave her a smile. "Yeah. Back to friends."

She cocked her head. "This isn't going to affect your game, is it?"

He smiled. "No, Lorelai."

"Good. Because I'd hate to have to kick your ass."

He scoffed. "Yeah. Good luck with that."

She smiled and moved in more. "Thanks for understanding, okay?"

"No problem."

She reached for him, and he leaned away from the wall and down to her so they could hug properly. Luke regulated his breathing and looked to the far wall as her fingers lightly ran over his naked neck and shoulders. She held on seconds longer than was appropriate for a friendly embrace. After second eleven, he patted her back kindly and pulled away. He had not put on pants yet, and he definitely didn't want to chance any sort of salute. His boxer shorts wouldn't even _attempt_ to hide it.

Lorelai backed away and crossed her arms. Her eyes dropped to his chest. "So, um, I guess you can put on some pants," she said with a smile. "And we can go stand outside and watch the teams come in."

He narrowed his eyes. "And do what?"

"Well…I was thinking about laughing and pointing, but if you have something better in mind, please feel free to share."

He rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't want anybody doing that to you, would you?"

She considered that. "No, I wouldn't. That provides all the more incentive to come in first!" she ended rationally. She turned away. "Now, hurry up and get dressed before we miss them." She grabbed her jacket and slipped it on. Luke figured she was joking until he saw her button her jacket and go over to the door.

She opened it and peered out into the falling daylight. Her sudden laughter let him know how serious she was.

"Well, well, well," she began loudly. "Look who's _just_ stumbling across the finish line!" The door closed behind her.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke pushed forward, Lorelai tailing him by a great distance.

"You're still back there, right?" he yelled.

Lorelai's breathing was heavy. She swallowed, hung her head, and pedaled a few more times before she climbed off of her bike.

Luke turned around since he had not gotten an answer from her. "Lorelai, are you okay?"

She looked up the road at him. He was seven or eight meters ahead. One of her thumbs shot up in the air, and Luke realized for the first time that it was possible for someone to be sarcastic even with a hand signal. He climbed off of his bike and waited for her to catch up.

"Lorelai, I know it's hard, but you have to move faster than that," he yelled down to her. She leaned forward on the hill and pushed her bike up faster.

"I know," she yelled breathily as she got nearer to him, "It's just that…that…this hill hates me."

"It doesn't hate you," he said once she was closer. He flipped the top on his water bottle and squirted a generous amount in his mouth. "It's just mind over matter." He passed her his water. "Mind over matter," he repeated. "Just keep telling your body that."

"_My body_ is tired of listening to me. It told me to go to hell after I got off that damn rock yesterday," she said huffily. She took the bottle and wrapped her lips around the spout like a baby's bottle. Luke shook his head and rolled his eyes at the same time.

"Sure, put backwash in it. That should increase the flavor."

She drank some more then lowered the bottle. Her breathing had evened out just a tad. She passed his bottle back to him while giving him a pointed look. "You think I have cooties, Luke?" He took his bottle and refrained from answering the question. He already knew where she was about to go with that one. It would be somewhere in the region of reminding him of all the bodily fluids they'd shared on the previous day. He didn't seem to care about cooties then.

He gestured ahead and, instead, told her, "Half a mile more. Come on." He walked his bike up the hill since she was doing that.

Lorelai whined. "Oh my goooodddd." She pushed onward to keep pace with Luke. "Whose idea was it to do this competition again?"

"Yours."

"Ugh. Remind me to smack myself later, okay?"

"Consider it on the 'to do' list."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

It took one and a half hours for Luke and Lorelai to complete the Triathlon.

They biked up a mile-long hill after having to make it on foot for two miles. Only the walking portion was done with their gear. Swimming came last. Each team had to swim back and forth in a 25-meter pool a total of four times. Though each team member had to participate, there was no rule as to how many laps any one team member had to complete. As long as both did _at least_ one.

When Lorelai made it up the pool's step ladder, she dropped down in the grass at Luke's feet. He leaned over her, his wet hair dripping onto her swimsuit.

"You okay?" he asked with a lighter breath. He was exhausted as well but had been given time to rest as Lorelai took her turn. "You're still alive, aren't you?"

Her chest rose and fell heavily. "Barely."

He smiled and sat down in the grass beside her. "You know you could've let me do three," he said, responding to her fatigue.

Her eyes were closed. She blindly laid her hand on his bare back. "We've had…to…do the same exact…stuff." She breathed for a moment. "We're both exhausted. Wouldn't be fair for you to…pick up my…slack too."

They'd already had that argument before Lorelai stepped in the pool. She had complained all the way up the hill, and Luke knew she was tired, so when it came to this portion of the race, he volunteered to handle most of it. She refused. As she swam, Luke watched her with knitted brows. He discovered that Lorelai was a very talented swimmer. Her strokes told him that she'd had lessons—maybe in her youth. Her strokes were smooth, and her body's fluent movement beneath the water gave her a remarkable pace. Her time was much faster than Luke's, and he realized they would have been better off if she'd been the one to volunteer the heavier workload.

"So, you're a swimmer," he mentioned.

She found strength to laugh. "Please."

"Seriously. I was watching. And…damn."

Her eyes remained closed, and her hand still rested lazily on his back. She used her nails and raked lightly across his skin. He felt that mild sensation everywhere. She spoke normally. "I took lessons for a few years as a kid. Remember I grew up with the Gilmores. I was to be kept thin, flexible, agile, smart—just any and all traits that would help me secure the highest millionaire bidder."

He chuckled. "Well, they did a good job."

She smiled. "Are we in the lead?"

Luke looked around at the empty pool area. "Nope. I think we're pretty far behind actually."

She groaned. "Oh darn. I guess we need to not be sitting here lounging in the sun right now, huh?"

He nodded. "Yeeeep, we should probably get a move on," he said musingly.

She rubbed his back with more commitment. "Can you get up, then help me up, please? My legs…are just so ouchie," she said with a pitiful moan.

He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Your legs are 'ouchie'?" She lifted her arms to him, and he took her hands. "I guess nobody wants _ouchie_ legs," he mocked.

"My legs, my neck, my back," she complained while Luke pulled. "…all ouchie. So much ouchiness." He pulled harder as he realized she was giving very little assistance. She made it to her feet. "Thanks, babe," she said softly. She began to wring her hair out.

He leaned down, picked up a couple of towels, and handed her one. "Okay, let's go change so we can get a move on," he said, finally back in competition mode. Lorelai nodded. She went off to the ladies room and Luke went to the men's.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

The sign was a big one.

It was big and shaped just like an actual 'Yield' sign.

Luke wanted to strangle the one responsible. But that was nothing compared to Lorelai. He'd never seen her so angry.

On the sign, there was a large picture of one team who was forced to wait there for a full hour. An hour! The team who'd made it to the sign first had the honor of choosing the team to suffer that fate. There was no question as to who arrived first because that team's photo was tacked at the bottom beside the words: Courtesy of.

Luke and Lorelai stared at a picture of the two of them. Below that picture, beside 'courtesy of' was a cheesing picture of Kirk and Marla.

Luke's frustration took a backseat as he worked to calm Lorelai down.

"We're already behind, and look what we have to deal with now!" she screamed.

"I know. It sucks. But Lorelai--"

"This is it. We're going home. We're going home thanks to _stupid_ Kirk and his weird, wonder-woman granny partner! I'm going to _kill_ him!"

"Listen, I know how you feel," Luke began rationally. "Trust me, but we can't start---"

"I swear…I-I just…" She paced. "I cannot _believe_ this!!"

"Lorelai."

"It's over. It's so over. It's so unbelievably over."

Luke rolled his eyes tiredly and folded his arms. It didn't even seem like Lorelai was hearing his voice as he spoke to her. She was way too upset. She paced for minutes more. She mumbled and uttered hateful words then had those around her jumping in surprise when she turned up the volume and shouted more words without warning.

Around the ten minute mark of their detainment, she simmered. She moved beside Luke and took a heavy breath.

"Why aren't you more upset?" she asked.

He shrugged lethargically. "I was. I think whatever anger I had was worked out by watching you rant and rave."

She shook her head as a few lingering frustrations passed through. "Sorry. I'm better now, though."

He sighed and pointed to the sand. "Wanna sit?"

She smiled a little. "Sure, why not? We're gonna be here for a while."

They sat down and quietly entertained their own thoughts. Lorelai picked up a stick and drew a few squiggles and stick figures then erased them. She drew a tic-tac-toe board, an 'x' in the middle, then passed the stick to Luke. He rolled his eyes and took it. He drew an 'o' in one of the corners, and they continued on silently.

Lorelai won three in a row before Luke realized how much of an advantage she had by going first.

She smiled when he brought it to her attention, but since he had yet to win one, she still got first selection. The next one was a 'cat'. She won two more, then gave him a courtesy by allowing him to lead. Luke won the next one, then lost. Lorelai won twice more. Luke erased the board and began a game of Sprouts.

Thirty-five minutes later, the two of them looked up at the sound of footsteps. The other Woodsbury team which consisted of two cousins—a guy and a girl—were making their way to the final clue.

Luke and Lorelai shared a look. They were pretty sure that that team was the last one. They still had fifteen minutes left to remain there, and the last team was about to be on their way to the pit stop. The cousins gave a collective sigh of relief when they saw that they were not in last place. They got their clue and continued on. Luke tossed the stick in the sand as he noticed Lorelai's distraction. She quietly watched the team move quickly to their destination.

Luke leaned back on his hands. "Hey, y'okay?" he asked considerately.

She looked at him and then down to the sand with an accepting sigh. "Well, I suppose that's that." Luke looked away from her sad expression. He felt a tap on his knee moments later, and he met her eyes. She smiled. "Why'd you drop the stick? We didn't finish our game." She picked it up and passed it to him. He smiled a little and used the stick to draw his next curve.

Lorelai took it when he extended it back to her. "Good one," she praised quietly as she determined her next move.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

When given the 'okay', Luke and Lorelai gathered their bags, figured out the final clue, and hurried to the pit stop. They knew they were last, but it still didn't affect the fight they'd displayed for the past four days.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived.

"There it is," Lorelai said with a point. She pointed to the sign that was lugged around from pit stop to pit stop to let the racers know they'd made it. This time, they stood in front of a bed and breakfast in Litchfield.

"Oh, I see it," Luke said. They made their way to where a greeter stood awaiting them.

Lorelai lowered her bag to the ground.

The man that was the evening's greeter appeared to wait until they both looked settled before he spoke.

"Luke, Lorelai…." He paused. "You are the last team to arrive at the pit stop today."

Lorelai's heart sank to her feet.

She knew they were going to be the last team. That was obvious. But it was something about having it be made official that made it increasingly worse. She felt Luke's arm go around her shoulder, and he pulled her closer and kissed her in her hair. Her hand went to his chest, and she offered a kind smile to the man who was delivering the awful news. Her eyes went up to Luke.

"Well--" she started to say.

"However," the man continued. "During the swimming portion of the Triathlon, all teammates were instructed to swim _at least_ one lap in the pool. The team that arrived prior to you guys had one person swim all laps." Lorelai's eyes widened. "In order to have completed the challenge successfully, they would have had to go back and re-do that part of the challenge. They opted not to."

"So, does that mean…?" Lorelai began excitedly.

The man smiled. "_So_," he continued, "By default…you two are safe from elimination," he finished.

Lorelai squealed. Luke looked over at her with a bright smile. She reached over and hugged him and then she hugged the greeter. They all laughed. The man dropped his official sounding tone and waved them toward the large bed and breakfast.

"Go in, get settled, and go get some dinner. It's been a long day."

Lorelai picked her bag up, and she and Luke made their way to the building. She couldn't seem to let go of the smile she wore.

"Luke…god, I never thought I'd be so happy to make it through on a technicality."

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I would've taken anything. We've come so far, ya know? It just sucked to be standing there being told we were the last team."

"Man, you have no idea," she said as relief and happiness replaced all thoughts in her head. She laid her hand on his shoulder. "We have to kick some serious ass tomorrow, dude. I can't go through this again."

"I'm with you on that. Serious ass kicking." He held out his hand, and she laughed as she took her hand from his shoulder and slapped five with him. She leaned into him happily and rubbed his arm with affection. They separated gradually and walked up the stairs to enter the establishment.

As soon as they walked inside, they spotted a few of their competitors just hanging around in the lobby talking. Lorelai sighed with relief that she was still one of them.

She spotted Kirk over in a corner near a bookshelf. He was skimming titles. Lorelai's smile immediately disappeared, and she stalked over to him. Luke didn't even notice she'd left his side until he heard her yelling.

"Kirk, you _jackass_! What the hell did you yield Luke and me for?!"

Kirk spun around and stood stock-still at hearing the angry words. "Uh w-what?" he asked confusedly.

Lorelai lowered her bag to the floor in front of him. "You yielded Luke and me!" she accused. "Why did you do that?" Her tone softened a bit that time. She was genuinely confused and hurt at his actions.

Kirk's eyes were wide like he was scared she was going to attack him. Luke came up behind Lorelai and looked at him too. Lorelai didn't seem like she was about to fly _completely_ off the handle, so he just stood behind her, awaiting an answer to her question.

Kirk looked from Luke to Lorelai and back again. He looked terrified like he thought they were really going to rough him up.

Lorelai sighed and brought her fingers to her temples. She spoke with patience. "Look…I'm sorry I yelled. I didn't—I-I shouldn't have yelled. I'm sorry." Kirk nodded while looking at her distrustfully. She continued on slowly. "I just need to know _why_," she said, her voice becoming harsh. She paused and got control once again. She spoke through her teeth. "I need to know why. you. would. do. that."

Kirk seemed to relax with her kinder tone and body language.

He sighed. "Well, this is a competition, isn't it?" he asked smartly.

"Watch it, Kirk," Luke warned.

Kirk rolled his eyes at Luke. "Look, this is a competition. I'm not taking pity on anybody in this race. I'm sorry if I made it there first and beat you two to the punch, but hey, look at the bright side. At least you guys made it and didn't get eliminated, right?" He looked between them as he waited in vain for agreement. "So, don't get bent out of shape here. Just go get some food, go up to your room, and rest up for tomorrow's defeat."

Luke made a move toward Kirk, and Lorelai stopped him with her arm. Kirk backed away and kept a watchful eye on him.

Lorelai got in his face and talked loudly like he was hard of hearing. "Kirk, I want you to liiiisten to me!" she began as she tapped her own ear in demonstration. "You and I are both from _Staaaaars Hooolllooowww_. You do. not. yield a _Staaaaars Hooolllooowww_ team when there are three other _teams_!"

She moved away, and asked him with a wide-eyed look if he was clear on what she'd just said.

Kirk looked confused.

"So…I'm not supposed to compete with you?" he asked.

Lorelai sighed quietly and spoke to him in a normal tone. "No, I'm not saying that. You and I can have our own little competition going. It's nothing wrong with that. If you make it to point A first, you can shove it in my face. That's fine. I plan to do the same thing to you." She grasped the sides of his arms and looked at him squarely. "But we don't hold each other back in the race. We're representing for our town, Kirk. If you get an opportunity to yield someone, yield one of those losers," she said pointing to the people in the lobby. "We don't care about their town. We just want Stars Hollow to come out on top. Now once we've knocked out all the other competition, and it's just you and me…" She let him go and smiled. "Then it's all war baby. Trip me, pull my hair, yield me. Do whatever you have to do to make sure you and Marla win this thing. But until that time comes---"

"_They're_ the enemy," Kirk said evilly as he looked over into the lobby.

Lorelai nodded. "Exactly."

"You _get_ it now?" Luke asked snippily.

Kirk nodded in a humble manner and looked back and forth between them. "I'm sorry I yielded you guys."

Lorelai took a large, exhausted breath and hit his shoulder in a show of good sportsmanship. "Enh, don't worry about it. We still made it."

He smiled and looked down. With sudden enthusiasm, he asked, "Hey, you guys gonna go eat dinner now? I've already had dinner, but I haven't eaten dessert. We can eat together!"

"Why can't you eat with your own teammate?" Luke asked unapologetically.

He sighed. "I would, but she's in the bed." Both Luke and Lorelai looked at their watch. "I know, I know. It's only 8:30pm. Strikes me as odd too." He waved away that momentary puzzlement. "Anyway, what do you two say? Can we eat together?" he asked.

Lorelai scowled playfully. "With you? Dude, you're our competition. We can't be seen fraternizing. What's wrong with you?"

His happiness fell away. "Oh. Yeah…I guess you're right," he said, taking Lorelai's comment to heart. "Well, uh…try the spaghetti, then. It's really good."

Lorelai chuckled. "I was kidding, Kirk. Give us a minute to get our room, and we'll meet you back down here."

He lit up. "Okay! I'll be here."

Lorelai picked her bag back up and walked with Luke over to the check-in desk to get their key. "Are we really gonna eat with him? I don't wanna eat with him, dammit. He yielded us!" he complained.

Lorelai laughed. "Grow up, Luke. He didn't know what he was doing," she placated. Luke rolled his eyes as she came to Kirk's defense. Lorelai leaned close. "Besides, I have some chocolate laxatives in my bag. Now, we wouldn't want them going to waste, would we?"

A slow smile came over Luke's face as he studied her. "You wouldn't…"

"He's gonna have his dessert alright," she announced gaily. "With a little chocolate _surpriiiiise_ on the _siiiiide_."

Luke shook his head, more satisfied than he was willing to admit. "Why do I ever doubt you?"

She shrugged lightly. "Beats me. You'll learn one of these days," she ended with a cool wink.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke emerged from the bathroom, went over to the cot that he had set up, and climbed under the covers.

"Can you turn that TV down?" he said to Lorelai.

"It's not even that loud."

"It's too loud to go to sleep to." He wiped his eyes.

Lorelai pressed the volume down arrow several times until the voices from the television could barely be heard. She looked down at him from where she lay in the large solitary bed. "Better?"

He looked over at her as well. "You don't have to turn it down that much," he deadpanned.

She shrugged and flipped the channel. "Doesn't matter. I'm about to hit the sack too." She went past a channel that had soft erotica playing. The flipping ceased, and Luke slid down under his covers and turned away like he had a sudden urge to fall asleep at that very moment.

"Turn from that," he said.

"Why?"

"Fine. Leave it there. Whatever."

She turned the TV off and reached over to the lamp. "Night."

"Goodnight."

She clicked the switch and sighed as she nestled beneath the covers. Luke's cot squeaked as he moved around trying to find a more comfortable position. There was a bright light that shined into the room from outside. It came from a very ambitious streetlight and shined directly in Lorelai's face. She turned away from it and put pillows behind her to block it. A few seconds of silence passed, then Luke started moving around again. Lorelai smiled. More seconds passed, and the squeaking started once more. She chuckled quietly to herself then sat up in the bed.

"Luke, just come up here. That cot is driving _me_ crazy so I can only imagine what it's doing to you."

He raised his arms and dropped them to the outside of the covers. "No, I'm good," he said pitifully. "Just takes a while to get comfortable, that's all."

She pulled the covers off of her body and placed her feet on the floor. "Let's switch."

"What? No, I told you I'm good."

"Come on, you take the bed, and I'll take the cot." She stood up and crossed her arms casually as she moved over toward him. "I slept on a cot when I first moved into the potting shed, so I have prior experience," she replied lightheartedly. She stopped a couple of feet from him. "It's not a problem."

He looked up at her. "Lorelai, go get back in the bed. I'm not switching," he said stubbornly.

"Alright, but when I get back in that bed, don't think about changing your mind. This is a pretty good deal I'm offering you here."

He pulled cover higher on his chest. "Yeah, and I appreciate it, but it's not necessary."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself." She turned to get back in the bed but took note of the open window with the high-beaming streetlight shining through. She moved toward the window. "What, is this thing like the whole _town's_ security light? I wouldn't be surprised if we woke up tomorrow and saw ships and vessels beached on the lawn."

Lorelai walked around where Luke laid. He was on his back. He leaned his head back into the pillow and watched as she went over to the window. "It is a little bright, isn't it?" he asked casually.

She searched out the cord on the curtain, then pulled it. "A little?" she asked arguably. "This light probably confuses the roosters." Luke smiled. "Have 'em cocodoodledooing at midnight." She pulled the cord, and it barely moved. "Thing's stuck," she muttered as she looked upward at where the cord hung from.

She yanked on it.

"Don't pull it like that," Luke said.

She glanced back at him. "It's not moving."

"I know, but don't yank it. That's not gonna help."

"Ya know, I see you laying there talking, but I don't see you helping much," she replied smartly.

"Oh jeez." Luke pulled away his cover and stood. He walked over sluggishly while still watching her do exactly what he'd said not to do. "Lorelai, I wouldn't be surprised if that whole thing just--" His eyes bugged out and he rushed over at seeing the whole left side of the heavy curtain come down, rod and all. Lorelai ducked down but was still knocked over the head with the end of it. Luke made it to her just as it happened, and he pulled it up off of her. She grasped her head.

"Ow!" she said with a frown.

He laughed. "I told you not to pull on it like that."

"Damn it," she whispered. "That really hurt."

He touched her head where she'd been hit. "You'll be okay," he determined quickly.

"Oh, thanks," she said in sarcasm as he brushed off her injury.

He took a nearby chair and climbed onto it. He easily reattached the curtain and lowered himself back down. He took a breath and pushed the chair away. "Sorry," he said of his disregard. He gave her his full attention again. "Are you okay? I didn't feel a knot or anything."

She clutched her head. "I guess I'll be alright." She dropped her hand. "Thanks for the delayed concern," she said scornfully.

"Hey, better late than ne--"

Her hand went over his mouth. "Do you really think that's gonna help your case right now?" She felt his lips turn up into a smile beneath her hand. He shook his head, no. She smiled as their eyes remained focused on each other. Luke mumbled words that she couldn't determine due to the muffle she'd created. She chuckled. "What?" He mumbled again, and she laughed more. "_What_?" He lowered her hand from his mouth.

"If you get your hand from my mouth, you'll be able to hear me."

She still smiled. "That's not what you said."

"I was telling you to take your hand from my mouth."

She nodded hugely. "Ooohhh. Got it." The hand that she had over his mouth went to his T-shirt, and she swiped her hand down, then back up his chest. They looked at one another. "You spit on me," she whispered with an exaggerated glower. He smiled.

Her movement slowed. They didn't break eye contact. She continued to swipe her hand up and down his chest. To his stomach and up to his chest. Luke's smile faded from his lips. Her hand went up, then went back down…down to the band on the jogging pants he wore. She parted her lips and brought her hand up once more. A light fistful of his shirt was grasped, and she pulled him to her.

Lips met lips, then tongue met tongue. Lorelai's back slid across the door, and she lifted Luke's shirt as her hands explored more and more of his strong back. Her legs wrapped around his waist, then her arms went around his neck. He grinded her body slowly. He kissed her deeply. Angled his head a bit and kissed her even deeper. She held his head and moved with him. She desired even more of that which had her fleeing out of control. Luke pulled away to catch a breath. Lorelai needed one too.

She swallowed and shook her head, her eyes closed due to mind-numbing, coursing sensation. Luke's mouth was below her ear. He sucked softly. So damn skillfully. He marked her skin. Then he was on her neck. Doing the same incredible damage.

"Luke…Luke…god…bed….please." Her words were barely audible. She wondered if she'd even spoken them. Her mind remained with Luke's touch. Luke's sensation. Luke's…sensation. All his. His and his alone. It was unbearable and still so desired, so very essential.

She said his name. Called his name over and over, making repetition her plea. A million times, she called his name. And he answered when he touched her. He responded as he sucked her tongue. He showed he was listening as he laid her down and entered her in one long, smooth stroke.

Lorelai cried out, and she begged him to not stop. Her limbs anchored him, and her nails marred his muscular back. He entered and exited her tight body with force she inspired. Sensation rained upon her and dampened her sanity. She felt herself floating and falling and sailing away as he penetrated her desire.

Lips met, and they kissed. Stirred passion even more.

Luke pushed hard. He moved his ass, worked the middle, and had moans and whimpers filling the room.

He brought her to climax in the middle of a feeling she didn't want to end. There came a strangled moan that seemed to go on. His pelvis remained committed to the up and downs. Lorelai's nails went deeper into his skin as she found an inability to catch a breath at the never-ending orgasm. When left with no choice, he slowed, clipped the feeling, and Lorelai breathed deeply and allowed the aftershocks to course her body.

She searched out his mouth and kissed him passionately. Luke's speed increased and he groaned into their kiss as he filled her with his release.

Still, they kissed. His strokes slowed, and he just moved gingerly. Their lips separated.

Quiet breaths floated between them.

Lorelai's legs relaxed, and she slowly took them from around Luke's body. He looked into her eyes, then carefully pulled himself out of her. She whimpered. He whispered the word "sorry" then kissed the corner of her mouth. She moved her head and met his mouth fully. They opened up and gave tongue. The kiss went even deeper before it slowed. They pulled away once again and met eyes.

Lorelai's finger lightly traced a welt formed from one of many fresh scratches on his back.

"Are you going to be okay," she whispered. He nodded as he looked down to her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said, matching her tone.

She brought her hand to the side of his hair and dragged her fingers through affectionately. "I'm gonna go sleep on the cot…" she said softly. He looked at her but said nothing. His eyes revealed question and hurt. He nodded a little and started to lift himself from her, but she pulled him back gently. "Hey. Remember. Just until Stars Hollow." He slowly recalled their earlier conversation, and his eyes came to show that remembrance. Lorelai smiled at seeing that. "We're okay?" she asked.

He nodded more believably that time. "Yeah. We're okay."

She smiled more. "Okay." He started to lift himself once more, and Lorelai leaned up and kissed his lips. He paused and pressed his lips back onto hers. They held it for several seconds then pulled away. "Friends til Stars Hollow," she whispered on his mouth. He nodded, then initiated a deep, tongue kiss. They separated.

Lorelai slipped from beneath him and stood up. She looked back at him nervously then walked around and collected her clothes. After stepping into the bathroom for a moment, she came back out fully dressed and looked over at Luke who had used the time to dress also. She got under the blankets on the cot and laid down.

"Goodnight Luke."

Luke stared at the ceiling. "Goodnight Lorelai."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

It was now the fifth day and four teams remained.

Back home, Stars Hollow and Litchfield were already in celebration mode. Four eliminations had taken place, and both towns still had all of their teams in the competition. Woodbridge and Woodsbury had taken all hits. The first two teams to go were the ones from Woodbridge. But Woodsbury wasn't too far behind. Many thought the brothers would bring home the gold, but they had ended up being the third team gone. Because, unfortunately, Lorelai had been right in her prediction. It was the guys' nonstop bickering that ultimately did them in.

Two more eliminations were to take place. Three full days of competition remained.

All eight team members sat downstairs in a large recreational-style room at the B&B. They were positioned in a half-circle. It was Luke and Lorelai, The Litchfield ladies, the frat boys, and Kirk and Marla. There was a small space between each team.

In this room, the day's contest would begin. Unlike other legs of the race, they were not given times for departure based on when they'd completed the previous day's race. This delighted Luke and Lorelai more than anything because they knew their late arrival the day before would have given them a disadvantage.

On this day, the competition would go a little differently. The four teams were going to go on a whole day's worth of different challenges. They were to head in four different directions. Previously, each day consisted of 8 to 10 events which were to be completed by everyone. Today that would change. Up for grabs was the option to do 20 easy events, 15 events with a slightly higher difficulty level, 12 intermediate events, or 8 difficult ones.

In the rec room, they were going to compete in a trivia contest to determine who got to pick first, second, and so on.

Lorelai was giddy. As it turned out, the contest was movie trivia. An audio clip was going to be played. The teams would have thirty seconds once it ended to 'Name that Movie'. There were twenty-five clips total. Each team held small dry erase boards, a marker, and an eraser. They all waited for the game to begin.

"Ya know, I really do think you're a great partner," Luke began to Lorelai, "I haven't had any complaints so far."

"I sense a 'but', and I gotta tell you, Luke, it better be a damn good one."

He rolled his eyes at her. "_But_," he went on to say, "This is the first time that I almost feel sorry for the other teams. I feel like they don't even stand a chance here," he said seriously.

She smiled. "Yeah, here's where my couch potato existence finally pays off."

Luke shook his head, still in disbelief. "I guess I'm pretty useless on this one, huh?"

"Luke," she said with a firm pat to his thigh, "You're not useless. Don't ever think that way. It's bad for the self-esteem." She passed him what was in her hand. "Here, you can hold the eraser. Now, you have a job."

He took it. "Oh joy."

A man went to the front of the room and got everybody's attention. After a few more of the instructions were stated, he made sure all teams were ready, then he played the first audio clip.

The beginning of Aretha Franklin's R.E.S.P.E.C.T rang out. As soon as she began singing, a man joined in—high-pitched and off key. Soon after he began singing, there was the beating of drums. He continued to sing goofily. Then, a distant door could be heard closing. The man stopped singing, and Aretha continued unaccompanied. The music was turned off shortly after.

Voice 1:_ Quick, what's the meaning of life?  
_Voice 2:_ Dale Beberman._

The audio was shut off, and each team was given time to come up with an answer.

Luke looked down as Lorelai scribbled 'St. Elmo's Fire' down without delay. He looked up at her, and she smiled as she brought the board close to her chest.

"Thank God you're on my team," he muttered as he watched the other teams whisper back and forth.

The man called time, and four boards flipped around. Three out four of the teams got it right. Lorelai leaned over to Luke.

"Wait, I can do better," she whispered.

"What?"

She held up a finger, signaling for him to be patient.

They were instructed to erase their boards and prepare for the next audio clip. The man pressed play.

Voice 1: _I know your head aches; I know you're tired; I know your nerves are as raw as meat in a butcher's window. But think what you're trying to accomplish. Think what you're dealing with. The majesty and grandeur of the English language, it's the greatest possession we have. The noblest thoughts that ever flowed through the hearts of men are contained in its extraordinary, imaginative, and musical mixtures of sounds. And that's what you've set yourself out to conquer, Eliza. And conquer it, you will._

The audio was shut off. Even more whispering followed.

Lorelai wrote, then showed Luke. He nodded, then shrugged. "Looks good to me," he said flippantly. Lorelai smiled. The time ended, and each of them presented their answers. The frat boys had a question mark, Kirk and Marla had an empty board but continued to whisper back and forth, and both the Litchfield ladies and Luke and Lorelai had written 'My Fair Lady'.

Lorelai sighed and leaned into Luke once more. "I can do better," she said again.

"What are you talking about?" he asked annoyed.

Again, she silenced him with a finger.

Boards were cleared, and again an audio clip played.

Voice 1: _Outside of the fact that you don't like him, you haven't got a thing against King. _  
Voice 2: _He's a fake, Ellie._  
Voice 1: _He's one of the best flyers in the country._  
Voice 2: _He's no good, and you know it. You married him only because I told you not to.  
_Voice 1: _You've been telling me what not to do ever since I can remember._  
Voice 2: _That's because you've always been a stubborn idiot._  
Voice 1: _I come from a long line of stubborn idiots!_

The clip was turned off. Luke peeked onto the board as Lorelai scribbled down an answer, again taking very little time to think before writing.

"You're like those brainiacs on Jeopardy when it comes to this stuff, aren't you? Able to pull up random knowledge at the drop of a hat."

She showed him the board with a smile. "What can I say? I'm a gifted lady."

The man at the front called 'time', and all teams showed their board. Lorelai looked around quickly from one wrong answer to the next. Her smile turned bright as she received the only point for that round. She leaned into Luke.

"Told you I could do better. She shoots…" She playfully shot a basket, "_Swiiishh_…"

Luke smiled and shook his head. "She scores," he finished.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai folded the leg of the pants into the middle and allowed the top part to fall over her arm, completing the fold. She tossed them to the side and picked up a kiddie-sized T-shirt. She held it up and scanned the print.

"Aw, Luke," She chuckled and turned it to face him, "Look at this one." The shirt had a replica of the Welcome to Las Vegas sign on it. She read the words aloud to him. "_'What Happens at Grandma's STAYS at Grandma's.'_"

Luke allowed her a few moments of laughter, then he spoke. "Lorelai, it would really speed this whole process along if you stopped _admiring_ the clothes you're folding."

She rolled her eyes downward and acceded. "Alright, Mr. Grumpy-puss. Just trying to liven up the party a little."

"It's live enough already," he said plainly.

They were in the large store area of a Women's Shelter. As one of their 12 intermediate events stipulated, they were to clean the room and organize its contents. Because as it stood, nothing was easily accessible. Nothing had a place of its own.

Luke grabbed a couple of boxed game boards and stacked them on the empty shelf space that he'd just cleared. He, then, pushed a couple of tricycles over where he'd put some scooters and skateboards.

Lorelai placed a stack of clothes off to the side and started working on another. She looked around the room thoughtfully. "I can't believe it's so much children's stuff in here. It's more toys and little clothes than there are adult items."

Luke paused and looked around. He sighed. "Yeah, I know. I noticed that too."

"All these women…coming from these horrible situations, and they have these little innocent kids. I can't even imagine."

Luke shook his head and leaned down to pick up a box filled with action figures. He sat the box down then picked up one of the toys. "Makes you think, doesn't it?" He dropped the toy back in the box and cradled the heavy load. "I mean, I have this sister who I think has the worst taste in guys of anyone I've ever met in my _life_," he stressed. He set the box on another area of the shelf. "Then, I come to a place like this, and I realize…it could definitely be worse." He straightened the box. "Thank God it's not worse," he added quietly.

Lorelai took a heavy breath. She picked up a Onesie and held it out. "I've got this little girl…growing up in this big, mean, cruel, stupid world, and even just the possibility that--"

"Hey, don't even think that Rory would end up…" Luke's voice faded, and his head continued to shake at her, "Not as long as I'm still on this _planet_," he ended seriously.

Lorelai smiled. "Jeez, Luke, can't I confide without you turning all Mighty Protector on me?" she asked jokingly.

He turned away and started working again, his jaw clenched. "Just saying."

Her eyes followed him as he worked vigorously. Then, she looked down to the item in her hand as she folded it slowly. "Well…" she began then paused, "Personally, I know for a fact that I'm gonna end up with one of the good ones." Luke tossed her a glance but kept working.

"You don't say," he said nonchalantly.

She nodded. "Yeah. Someone who'll love me. And respect me. Be there for me. And who'll treat me like I deserve to be treated."

"Hm."

"But most importantly will love my kid more than life, itself."

He stood up and took a breath as he looked around the room. "Well, that is important," he commented.

She continued on after a moment. "That's the guy that's gonna get my heart."

He looked at her, and he smiled a little. "And you know for a fact that you're gonna get a guy like that?" he asked.

A slow smile came over her lips. "It's pretty certain."

He nodded and chewed on his lip at the same time. "Well, good luck to you," he said lightly.

Lorelai threw the garment in her hand at him, and he caught it before it hit him. He chuckled and held it up. "Well, _this_ definitely isn't going to help the process. Less throwing, more folding," he ordered as he tossed it back to her.

Lorelai smiled and picked it up from where it had landed.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

_Nothing beats a nice Kodak moment.  
Well, maybe except making new friends.  
Let's try 'em both out just for fun.  
Grab a Polaroid cam and head to the Pyramids.  
Egypt is much too far, but properly stacked blocks will make you feel like you were there!  
Get seven friendly strangers and start BUILDING a new connection one block at a time.  
No one goes on an adventure without visual proof so use the camera and snap, snap, snap!  
Once all are in place, uncover the words on each block.  
Be some good little racers, and do what it says. Get your next clue from there. Have fun!_

"I knew something like this was bound to happen," Luke grumbled.

Lorelai took her backpack off and put it up against the building that had a 'For Lease' sign in the window. She and Luke stood on a sidewalk in Hartford. "What?" she asked of his statement.

Luke took his bag off as well and laid it beside hers. He took the paper with their instructions and put it in his pocket. "This," he answered. "Some sort of stupid challenge where we'd have no choice but to involve innocent people in this craziness."

"There has been plenty of challenges that called for audience participation," she said laughingly as she pointed to the city dwellers walking around them.

Luke sighed. "I know. They were choices, though. We've always gone with the ones that didn't."

"Buck up, Luke. It won't be so bad." Lorelai bent down and inspected the hatbox-sized wooden blocks that lay before them.

"Easy for you to say," he mumbled. "You'd talk to a rock if you thought it'd sit still long enough to listen. I don't like to bug people, _especially_ people I don't know."

Lorelai stood back up with a sigh. "You know what you're doing right now, Luke?" she asked leadingly. He rolled his eyes to her. She went on. "You're complaining and therefore are wasting precious time, and _not helping this situation_," she ended as she leaned close to his face. She backed up and patted his arm. "Now, do you want to snap the pictures or recruit our helpers?"

He reached over and took the camera that she held. "Definitely snap," he replied.

"All right. That'll work." She gathered her hair in her hand and slid the band from her wrist to her hair, making a quick ponytail. "Now, to get snag our talent," she said with a brow lift.

Luke allowed a smile to form at her enthusiasm. He looked down and prepared the camera. "Think we need the flash?" he called out.

"Uuuh, no flash. It's still pretty light out," she said, her voice distant.

"Okay." He looked up and saw her talking to an older man with white hair and a fanny pack. "Here we go," he mumbled. He watched as Lorelai led the man over to the scattered blocks. She pointed to them and just told him that he'd only have to put one of them in place while smiling toward the camera. Luke rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure the challenge didn't call for any sort of mandatory delight.

The man pushed his fanny pack to the side of his waist and grasped the block that Lorelai indicated. He moved it up a few inches and turned it in the direction the pyramid would go. Lorelai leaned down with him, pointed to the camera, then whispered something to him, and he chuckled. Luke held the camera up.

"One, two, three," she counted. "Coffeeeeeee," they both sang out.

Luke took the picture. Lorelai stood up and thanked the man with a gentle handshake. He smiled and moved along. Luke walked over. "Coffee?" he questioned.

She smiled and slid the picture from his fingers and continued to shake it as he was doing. "Yeah. I'm not a big fan of 'cheese'. It's cheesy."

"Doesn't matter if it's cheesy. It's used because you show teeth when you say it. It's ideal for pictures," he reasoned.

She shrugged. "Well, I always show teeth when I hear the word 'coffee'." She smiled brightly, then gestured to her mouth. "See, all 32 are on display."

Luke smiled. "And you actually got him to say that?"

"Yeah. Men are easy," she said garishly.

He fumbled around with the camera a bit. "Mmhm. When you look like _that_," he said nodding at her, "I bet they are."

"Hey, I'm sure you can pull a few of them, too. What about that guy over there," she said with a point, "I guarantee that if you show that smile or give him a little leg action, he'll say _anything_ you want him to say," she said compellingly. She laughed at the look he gave her.

Luke turned away with an eye roll when she began to push him in the man's direction. "Just get the next _victim_ over here so we can finish this up, please."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai flung herself on her bed.

"Mmmm," she moaned contentedly as her head went into the soft pillow.

Luke laid down on his bed as well, his head on the pillows and one of his legs remaining on the floor. "I second that," he said.

She smiled. "And then there were six," she replied indolently.

"Yeah." He looked at her. "Sorry your eye candy had to go home," he said referring to the frat boys.

"_Whose_ eye candy?" she asked with a frown.

Luke smiled. "That day in the bowling alley," he reminded. "Don't think I forgot that."

She recalled the day in reference. The day she'd been checking out Luke's lower form and had been accused of looking at a neighboring team when Luke saw her wandering eye. On that day, she'd chosen not to enlighten him or bring clarity to his wayward accusation. She just took the bullet and moved on.

At Luke's re-mention of that occurrence, she rolled her eyes. Her response was simple, as she chose not to speak the things that would disturb his clueless mind.

"I'll get over it, I'm sure," she said without emotion.

Luke nodded, and silence followed. It remained for only seconds more. What replaced it was Lorelai's snickers.

Luke rolled his eyes at the sound. "Not again," he whispered.

It got louder, and Lorelai turned on her side to face him. "I can't stop thinking about it," she said.

"Obviously." He groaned through Lorelai's laughter. "Lorelai, it was like three _hours_ ago. Let it go!"

She propped herself up. "Hoooome, hooome on the raaaaange, where the deeeeeer and the antelooope plaaaayy."

"A hundred _bucks_ if you drop this forever! I'll give you a hundred bucks, I swear to god, Lorelai!" he said with his hands clutching his head.

"Where seldom is heeeeard a discooouraging woooord."

"Give me a break."

"And the skiiiiies are not cloudy all daaaaay." Lorelai drummed her hands on the nightstand in-between the two beds. "Yaaaaaaaay, more more. Encore. '_Wheeeew,_ _Take your shirt off_!' " she finished sneeringly. She stopped drumming as she recalled the woman's playful request for nudity. "Lots of horny Hartford whores roaming the streets mid-day, isn't there?" she asked casually. She moved past the woman's image which had embedded itself in her head, and instead chuckled more at Luke's humiliation.

He dropped his hands. "You had to sing too, ya know. I can mock you just as bad!"

She scoffed. "Oh please."

"I could. So, you either let this go, or I'll start in on you. How 'bout that?"

She sat up fully. "Okay, imagine us retelling this story to all of Stars Hollow…"

"God, please don't do that."

"Just imagine, Luke. We get home and sit everyone down. We let everyone know how I had to sing a goofy song on a public sidewalk and collect two bucks. What do you think the reaction would be?" Luke didn't say anything. Lorelai laughed. "Exactly! You know they wouldn't care! I'm whacky. People expect it!" She pointed. "But you…?"

"Oh jeez," he said irritably.

"Who woulda _thunk_ it?" she asked with a shake of her head. "Certainly not I."

"You know, I really should have just let us fail the challenge. Because this isn't worth it."

Lorelai smiled goofily and continued her relentless ridicule. "Mm mm mm. The satisfaction I got from that should be illegal. Really."

"Whatever."

"So incredibly satisfying."

"Okay!"

"Like, if I died _right now_--"

"Lorelai, I get the point."

She laughed and looked over at him. Luke dropped his hands and turned attention to her when he didn't hear mockery and laughing for long seconds. They met eyes and she smiled and put both hands under her thighs comfortably.

"What?" she asked.

"Whaddya mean 'what'? You were looking at me first."

Her smile stayed in place. She shrugged. "Okay. So, I take my 'what' back. Happy?"

"Thrilled," he deadpanned. He brought his feet to the floor and sat up. Lorelai's eyes still followed his. He straightened his cap. "You finished making fun of me now?"

She grinned. "Oh heck no. I'm just giving you a break, mister. Don't mistake the break for completion."

Luke dropped his head and shuffled his feet. "What am I gonna do with you?" he muttered. He looked up with a smile and was met with her gaze. She no longer grinned. Luke's smile slowly faded, and he swallowed. There was quiet. With every slow blink, each set of eyes opened up to reveal a shade slightly different.

Luke's eyes went off to the side quickly before going back to her. "Um, fireflies."

Lorelai squinted. "What?"

His mouth opened, and he paused. "Fireflies," he said again.

She leaned her head forward in confusion. "O..kay."

He pointed toward the door. "Um..uh..'cause fireflies are..uh..I heard that they're here and uh plentiful." He pointed more. "And they're out there. Just…lighting away. And I was thinking maybe we could…" He pointed between them, then pointed to the door again. "You know…go…"

Lorelai watched and listened to him with slow, confused nods. He paused, and she jumped in with a show of support for that idea. "Um yeah! Sure. We can go…uh go look at them—the fireflies. That's a great idea." She stood. "Ready?"

He stood up too, then immediately moved toward the door when he realized he and she were inches apart. "Yeah, I'm ready." He hurried to the door and opened it. "Grab the key card," he said over his shoulder. More concerned with the exit, he rushed out and let the door close behind him.

Lorelai stood in place and made an admirable attempt not to laugh at herself. With a deep breath, she went to the dresser, retrieved the key card, and went to the door.

"Well, those fireflies aren't going to watch themselves," she muttered amusedly before walking out to meet Luke.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Around ten o'clock that night, Luke and Lorelai re-entered the room.

They'd sat outside until they went to eat, then they went back for additional fresh air.

They talked casually and allowed normalcy to wash over their minds and bodies in the bed-less outdoors. Gaps of silence only occurred when a topic was exhausted. And even then , they used the time to enjoy sounds orchestrated by mother nature while they waited for the emergence of a new one.

Back in the room, they got showered and changed for bed within the half hour.

Luke laid down. And when Lorelai came from the bathroom, she flipped off the television and laid down as well. There were soft goodnights spoken between them.

Lorelai turned to look at him in the darkness. He was on his back looking up. He turned his neck to her and saw her head move away.

"Did you put the chain on the door?" he asked.

She looked over at him. "No. I think you did."

"Really?" he asked doubtfully. "I don't remember."

"Well, don't worry about it. No one can come in."

He pulled back his covers and climbed from the bed. "No, it's safer to always have the lock that only we can control in place. People are crazy these days," he muttered.

Lorelai smiled and watched his image move across the floor. He reached the door and felt for the chain. "Is it on?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered as he found that it was already secure.

"Told you not to worry about it."

"Better safe than sorry," he replied as he reached his bed.

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, Luke," she said quickly. He froze and looked at her with his knee on the bed. She paused, swallowed. "Do…you…wanna w-watch TV?"

He shook his head a bit. "No thanks," he said quietly.

She nodded. "Okay. So bed?"

"Yeah, bed."

Again, she nodded. Luke remained with his knee in place for several seconds while still looking down at her. Gradually, he removed it and stood upright. He faced Lorelai, and they looked to one another. Lorelai's hand went to the edge of her cover and she pulled it downward. Luke took a step. She shifted and pulled it off more. Luke moved over to her and placed his hand on the mattress to the side her. Lorelai lifted the cover and brought it around him as he slowly brought his weight down.

His lips went to hers, and they kissed with an instant deepness.

Her fingers caressed his neck then slid into his hair. Luke took his talented mouth to her neck, and Lorelai moaned and whispered his name. His hand went to her breast as she lay underneath him, and he massaged with his palm. Her legs were wrapped around his, and she brought them down as Luke's hands dropped, and he made a gentle effort to rid her of the shorts she wore. He got them off then pushed her shirt upward and took his mouth to her nipples. He sucked both breasts lingeringly as if he could spend all night doing just that.

When their lips met again, Lorelai's legs went back around his body. Their kiss became heated, then they broke.

"Please," Lorelai whispered. "Please, Luke."

Her hand slid between them, and she made it to his navel before she rubbed her palm back up his stomach, lifting his shirt and caressing the hardness of his mid-section. Luke reached down and freed himself, pushing his pants down only a little. Any more and it'd call for separation. The tip of his erection went to her opening, and their lips reconnected in yet another passionate kiss.

He pushed inside of her, and Lorelai wriggled her hips until he had made a full entry. She sighed in satisfaction and hugged his neck.

They resumed kissing. A slow kiss.

Luke moved. Lorelai moved against his movements. They rocked together in insane synchronization, wanting and striving to get the deepest connection possible. Her legs spread wider, and Luke brought his legs up a bit and went deeper and harder inside of her.

Both moaned.

Lorelai came to orgasm and made Luke's feeling increase. He said her name and moved into that tightness achingly slow as he savored. Lorelai continued to moan, her lip now between her teeth. Luke's speed increased, slowed, then increased again before he followed her with a climax of his own.

They lay there and found their breath.

Lorelai's soft breathing was on his ear as his lips rested on her shoulder. He pulled back, and they looked at one another. He lifted his weight and carefully extracted himself from her body as they stared.

"Stars Hollow, right?" he whispered. She stared at him for seconds more before there was a slow nod. He nodded back, a small smile coming over his lips. "Okay." With a gentle kiss to her lips, he started to climb up, but he found her grip on his back still remained. He paused and met her eyes. Again, there was wordless staring. Her fingers slowly fell away from him, and she smiled shakily.

"Sorry. I'm ready now."

Luke swallowed and stood up from her. He fixed his clothes. Lorelai reached for her shorts and pulled them on as he climbed in his own bed. She moved to the opposite side of her bed, farther away from Luke and turned to the window.

Luke pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes hard enough to see twirling lines of light. His focus was on that when he heard Lorelai call his name. "Luke."

"Hm?" he answered as he lowered his hands.

She paused. "What do you think of…throwing the race tomorrow so we can head home?"

He smiled. Waited a beat before responding. "I'd say I think we've come a long way, and we should probably ride this thing on out."

"Figured you'd say that."

"And you want to finish too," he reminded.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

Luke turned on his side and stared over at her small silhouette. "So…you're gonna give your all tomorrow, right?"

He could hear the smile in her voice. "I suppose so."

"Good. Cause I'd hate to have to…find someone to kick your ass," he said mockingly, re-phrasing what she'd said to him. Her body shook as she laughed. Luke smiled. "Well, _I_ couldn't do it. You're a girl," he explained.

"Thanks for the consideration," she said sarcastically.

"No problem."

A short silence followed before Lorelai's quiet voice was heard. "Goodnight, Luke…buddy."

Luke shook his head, rolled his eyes, and turned away. "Yeah, same to you…pal."

…**TBC…**

What did you think of this chapter? Are you enjoying the story? I'd love to know. One more installment, so stay tuned!!


	5. Chapter 5

I apologize for the delay! This is the final chapter. Whew. Thank you all for riding this out with me. I hope you like how the story ends. Enjoy.

**The Amazingly Different Race**** Part V**

"Ooowww, Luke, it hurts!"

"I know, Lorelai. One more minute, and it'll be over. You can take it."

"No, I can't! _Take it out_. Please!"

"Will you stop moving around? Just relax, and think of something else."

Lorelai gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tight. Her hand shook as Luke held it between his. The splinter was on her left index finger. Lodged deep and proving itself to be as stubborn as she could be. Luke squeezed the finger with two of his, and she whimpered.

"Sorry," he said in apology, but he only squeezed harder. Lorelai pushed his chest.

"Ow, Luke! Don't apologize then hurt me worse! What's the matter with you?!"

He didn't let up since he could now see the tip of it rising through the broken skin. "Well, unless you want me to let it stay in here, I'm gonna have to apply some pressure!" he exclaimed. Lorelai grasped his arm above the elbow and squeezed as her pain got more severe. Luke continued until he got it free. He sighed and held up the tiny piece of wood. "It's out," he announced. He showed it to her then dropped it to the ground. Lorelai released him and examined her finger.

Luke clutched his arm. "What a lovely grip you have," he stated with an eye roll.

"Sorry." She wagged her red finger at him. "Thanks for this, though."

"You're welcome." He took some antiseptic cream and a band-aid from the first-aid kit offered by the race helpers. "I won't be able to use my arm for a week, but you're definitely welcome," he finished bitterly.

She chuckled and stood patiently while he cleaned and bandaged her injury.

When done, he disposed of the trash, and breathed deep. "Okay, what do you say we get back in this thing?"

She nodded. "Let's just try to steer clear of disgruntled floorboards this time."

Luke touched the small of her back and got them walking back toward the docks. "Deal. Although, _I'm_ not the one who needs the warning."

"We're a team. My screw-up is your screw-up."

He rolled his eyes. "I forgot. Try not to get _us_ hurt, then."

She smiled. "I'll do my best."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai knelt down and sloshed away mud from an area that she soon realized she'd already looked in.

"Got anything?" Luke called over.

She stood up and blew hair from her eye. Luke was bent over a few yards away as he tore through a muddy area, himself. "Not yet," she replied.

"Me either. Keep looking."

She groaned and walked around, kicking around rocks and gunk with the heavy boots she wore. She kneeled low and carefully parted the mud with both hands. She dug a mini-trench then gave up on that spot. She stood and used her arm to push back the same piece of hair. "Fuck _a duck_!" she yelled in exasperation.

Luke stood. "What's wrong?" he yelled over.

She faced him and spread her dirty hands at her sides. She laughed in her frustration as she answered, "My hair won't stay out of the way!"

Luke's legs were wide apart and planted in the deep, muddy area. He wrung mud from his hands as he listened to her dilemma. "Oh," he responded. Then, he was leaning back down.

"Thanks for the show of support, Luke."

He kept moving and digging. "Sorry," he said in distraction.

She rolled her eyes and went to another area. "God, this is disgusting," she muttered to herself. "First, they had us acting as second-rate deck hands, now this. I am so gonna be on the event committee next year." She continued to use her boots to kick so she wouldn't have to lean down and dig her already contaminated hands back in the filth. She looked up when she heard the Litchfield ladies yelling between one another as they waded through the ankle-deep slop as well.

Kirk and Marla were further away. They were already there when Luke and Lorelai arrived, and around ten minutes later, the Litchfield ladies showed up. For fifteen minutes, they'd all been there searching through the mud for one of three buried keys, and none, so far, had been lucky enough to find one.

They were told all keys were tied to small wooden blocks. After a couple of disappointed discoveries, each team had come to realize there were wooden blocks without keys in there as well.

"Hey, Lorelai." Lorelai looked up at Kirk and saw him with a glob of mud in his hand. He wore a grin. "What would you do if I threw this at you?" he asked in good fun.

Lorelai dropped her eyes back to the mud and kept looking for the key. "Kirk, as much as I love you and your kooky little ways, if you throw that at me, it'll take the whole cast of ER to remove my boot from your sunshine-less area," she said casually.

Kirk lowered his hand. "Wow. I-I was only kidding, you know?"

She looked up and smiled. "I know. But I wasn't." She pointed. "Now, go help Marla find the key."

"Lorelai, I found one!" Luke called.

She spun around, her eyes wide. "Really?!" she asked.

He took long, steady strides to the side of the huge pit. "Yeah," he answered. "Let's get out of here."

Lorelai wrung out her hands as she made her way to the edge as well. "Oh, Luke, you're awesome. You're so freaking awesome. I don't think I could've stayed in here another minute!"

Luke made it to the grass and stomped out his boots. When Lorelai was near enough, he took hold of her hand and helped her out. He turned with the key in his hand and shuffled over to one of three safes that rested there. He tried one, but it didn't fit. Upon sticking it in the second one, it turned and revealed a bright envelope. Inside was a clue, a tiny black and white print that was the size of a stamp, and $100. They both opened the clue and read.

_Now, that playtime is over, it's time to get down to business.  
In this safe, you will find a painting sample.  
Now, there are many who make their living being starving artists.  
And today, thanks to you both, they will eat.  
Take your sample and head to Willow Trace.  
Find the painting that matches the sample.  
Purchase the painting. If it is, indeed, the correct one, you will be handed your next clue.  
If incorrect, you will receive your next clue after being issued a time penalty. Good Luck!_

Lorelai took the envelope from Luke and re-read it. "Oh my god, there are like ten art galleries on this street!"

"At _least_ that," Luke stressed.

She took a breath and folded the clue. "Well, come on, let's get cleaned up so we can get a move on."

Luke nodded and followed her as they made their way over to their gear.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke and Lorelai both squinted and turned their heads to the left.

"What do you think?"

Luke paused as he studied the painting. Then his eyes went quickly to the stamp-sized sample Lorelai held. "Um…" He leaned in a little. "Well, it has the same little squiggly lines right here," he pointed out.

She looked over at him as he leaned over her shoulder. "So, yeah, then?" she asked.

"I really can't tell." He looked at her. "What's your take?"

She laughed a little. "I don't know. That's why I was asking you. All these things look alike to me."

"I know," Luke chimed in. "What ever happened to painting a house and a nice pond? Every last one of these damn things look like a pre-schooler went paint crazy."

Lorelai sighed. "You know what would help?" she asked thoughtfully. "It'd help if this sample had color on it."

"Yeah, it would," he agreed. "But it doesn't so we're forced to go slowly insane as we hold it from one obscure painting to the next."

He looked at the painting for a few additional seconds before re-examining the ones around it. They'd been going from gallery to gallery for over half an hour looking at paintings. The other teams had even shown up and were looking around for a match to their own samples.

"Okay, we've been in every store except about three," Luke began, "So…do you wanna go check them out or just take a chance on this one?"

Lorelai stood in thought, her eyes fixed on the painting. "Um…"

"Because," he added. "I'm sick of looking at these things. I don't even like art."

She looked at him. "Let's look in the other galleries," she suggested. "If nothing jumps out at us, then we can come back and get this one because this is the closest one we've seen."

"Okay." His touched her hip and let her lead the way to the exit. "Let's be quick, though. I feel minutes ticking off of my life in this place."

She smiled and hurried out ahead of him.

---

"Ahh!" Lorelai exclaimed with a point. "That's it, right? This has gotta be it!"

Luke sighed loudly and leaned over to look at the millionth painting of the day. They'd just entered the second to last gallery. He looked for a moment, then just shook his head. "Sure, why not?" he said drably.

"Luke!"

"Yes, yes. I meant to say 'yes'," he answered impatiently. "It looks very similar. I say let's go with it."

"You're just saying that so we can leave," she said with narrowed eyes. She turned to find someone to help them. "But it's okay. I know it's the right one." A lady noticed them and made her way over. Lorelai looked back at the painting and held up the sample once more. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

She turned to face him. "This is where we cross our fingers."

---

The bus came to a stop, and Luke and Lorelai climbed off, luggage and all.

Luke held the tube that contained the rolled up painting.

"1857," Lorelai said as she pointed at a large building. "This is it."

Luke looked around. "You sure? I don't see the address."

"Yeah. See, that one over there is 1853, so I just counted up."

He nodded. "Okay, good enough. Let's go." They walked up the stairs to the building. Lorelai stopped in front of the door and looked around. Luke watched her head bob and weave for a few seconds before he finally asked, "What are you looking for?"

"A doorbell," she answered.

"Lorelai, this is a business. They don't have a doorbell," he said in annoyance. "Just go inside."

She looked up at the large building. "It looks like a house. How do you know it's a business?"

He pointed down the street using the tube. "Because everything around it is a business," he replied. "They wouldn't stick a residential building right here."

She grasped the door and spoke quieter as she turned the knob. "Luke, I swear if you have me walking inside of somebody's house, I'm going to slap you. It won't be hard because I don't want to hurt you, but I'm definitely going to slap you. Now, I know that sort of defeats the purpose of the slap, but it'll let you know how much I didn't apprecia--"

"Lorelai, _open_ the door."

She frowned at him and got the door open. They inched forward and looked around. There were boxes and tables in the middle of the floor. "Hello," Lorelai called with a light knock to the already open door.

A teenage guy came around the corner, followed by a girl about the same age, and an older woman.

"Hey," the woman greeted with a smile. "We were wondering when you guys were going to begin showing up."

Lorelai smiled and shook the hand that was offered. "Hi," she said. "I'm Lorelai, and this," She gestured behind her, "This is Luke," she finished. Luke smiled and shook her hand too. Lorelai looked around with a fleeting look of embarrassment. "We didn't walk into your home, did we?"

She shook her head, no. "No, no, this is our business."

Her hand went to her chest. "Oh thank God!"

They all chuckled. The lady introduced herself, then the two teenagers who were her children.

She took the painting from Luke and admired it with a large smile before passing it to her son. She explained how their home had, just six months ago, caught fire. She told of how she'd lost everything. She went on to explain that they were in the process of re-building their lives with the help of Hartford. So far, they'd helped her and her family out tremendously. The family had managed to secure a home, and the building they now stood in was to become a clothing business. She had one before the fire, but lost it when she lost her home. The paintings that were purchased were going be used as decoration for the soon-to-be ready shop. Just a small contribution from the racing coordinators. She'd received quite a bit in addition to that, but she made sure to explain her involvement in the race.

Since she met Luke and Lorelai first, she let them know they had her automatic support in the competition. She spoke briefly and remained upbeat. Not wanting to hold them, she passed them their clue envelope and wished them luck.

Luke and Lorelai left the shop and stood on the porch of the business with the unopened clue.

Lorelai sighed. "Ya know, when I entered this race, I really didn't expect to have to do this kind of charity-type stuff."

Luke nodded languidly. "I know whatcha mean."

She looked at his profile. "It's a little tiring." He met her eyes. "I mean, who in the hell wants to enter this race to become a better person?" she complained. "Just give me the clue card and let me do what I have to do! Is that too much to ask for?"

Luke smiled and leaned closer to her face. "Is that a tear?" he asked.

She pushed him away. "Of course it's a tear, Luke. I'm not a robot!" Luke laughed as she took the envelope from him and descended the stairs.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke and Lorelai were the second team to make it to the pit stop.

Kirk and Marla had passed them on the last event for the day and were standing outside of the Best Western when they arrived.

Lorelai noticed them standing there as they were walking up. "Wonder what they're doing out here," she said to Luke. "What the hell, are they like waiting to brag about being first?"

He hiked his bag up his back. "So, what if they are? That seems to be _your_ favorite pastime," he commented.

She frowned.

"Luke, Lorelai," the greeter began once they'd made it to the mark, "You are the second team to make it to the pit stop." Luke held his hand up and Lorelai lightly slapped it and brought both their hands down. "You will not be eliminated today," he finished. They both nodded.

They were, then, told to stand to the side to await the arrival of the last team. Lorelai was grateful that Kirk and Marla had been instructed to wait. With that being the case, she wouldn't have to prepare herself for a pre-meditated, ill-intentioned taunt fest. She and Luke walked over toward the other team.

"Hey, w-why why uh…" Kirk pointed an overly enthusiastic finger between where Luke and Lorelai walked. Lorelai moved both hands to her bag as she took it off. Luke did the same. They looked at Kirk with concern as he continued to point at, what was now, nothing.

"Come on, Kirk. Spit it out," Lorelai replied with amusement.

He moved over. "Why were you guys holding hands? You don't hold hands, do you? _I've _never seen you holding hands," he said moving his eyes quickly between them.

Luke and Lorelai looked at one another in confusion. Neither was aware that they had not let go when they'd shared that high-five. What Kirk saw was a soft, celebratory high-five followed by a link that looked like nothing he and Marla would ever share. They'd released only to remove their backpacks. That's what he'd seen and what Luke and Lorelai appeared to have no memory of.

Both looked back at Kirk.

"Kirk, get out of my face!" Luke barked.

Kirk moved to the side and looked at Lorelai for answers. She followed in the path that Luke had so easily cleared. She leaned in as she passed him. "You know not to anger him when he hasn't eaten yet," she whispered loudly. "You've gotta be more careful, Kirk!" Lorelai winked at him and moved along.

Kirk was baffled. "But, but…"

"Ah, look! Here comes the final team," Marla pointed out. She stood up from where she sat on her bag. "I can finally go and soak my feet," she said to herself. "All this activity has me exhausted."

Lorelai smiled widely.

"Whatever comment you have, how about keepin' it to yourself?" Luke leaned into her and said.

Her mouth opened in offense, and she shrugged openly. "What? I wasn't going to say anything!"

"Good. Keep that way."

The Litchfield ladies jogged up the small hill with their backpacks. They each saw the two teams standing there, and they knew they were last. Everybody watched.

"How much does this suck? Not only are they last, but they have an audience," Lorelai said to Luke. "Maybe we should like turn around or something."

He rolled his eyes.

The greeter called each of them by name. He looked from one to the other, then said words that no one was expecting.

"You will not be eliminated from the race."

"What?" Kirk cried out. "But they were last! That's not fair. They should have to go home just like all the other teams who came in _last_!"

"Oh god," Lorelai muttered. Her hand went to the bridge of her nose as she dropped her head.

"Tell me about it," Luke mumbled.

Marla turned Kirk toward her and said a few stern words. Kirk tried to get a word in edgewise, and she said a few more. She let him go, and Kirk turned back around to face the crowd that had gone quiet. He took a breath. "I apologize for my outburst," he said half-heartedly. "You can continue. It won't happen again."

The greeter looked around at the team members, then back at the few race helpers. "Alright..um..anyway, as I was saying…" He cleared his throat and looked at the Litchfield team. "You are safe from elimination," he said officially.

He turned and addressed all teams. "Congratulations to you all. The six of you have made it to the final competition day." Everyone clapped with bare enthusiasm. Kirk's outburst had, without doubt, soaked up a large portion of the camaraderie.

The man continued. "Tonight was the final pit stop. Tomorrow, one of these teams will be declared winner of the first annual…" He paused and looked around, "Competition of the Towns." That got a better applause. "You all can go get checked into your rooms, then head downstairs for dinner. Afterwards, rest up. Tomorrow's a big day. All teams will need to be downstairs _in the parking lot_ at ten a.m. sharp." He dismissed them with a wave. "Good luck to you all."

Everyone gathered their things. Lorelai struggled with her bag. She'd taken it off, and now didn't have the strength to get it back on.

Luke lowered it down to his side. She looked back at him, and he just lifted his chin for her to lead the way inside.

She smiled and turned away. "Ready for tomorrow, big man?" she asked lightly.

He smiled. "Yeah. Gotta be. We can't let Kirk represent for our town. We won't be invited back in the competition next year."

Lorelai laughed.

All racers went into the lobby.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke gathered his things in order to go in the bathroom for a shower.

Lorelai had just finished hers. She dropped onto her bed by the nightstand and picked up the alarm clock.

"What time, nine fifteen?" she asked looking up at him.

He smiled and unfastened his wristwatch as he walked from the rear of his bed over toward the nightstand. "Make it eight forty-five, Beauty Queen. We were almost late this morning with all your bathroom hogging."

She clicked the buttons on the clock to get it set. "It's so funny how men are quick to complain about groom time, but you guys are always drooling over the end result."

He got his watch off just as he reached the nightstand. "You're not much better. In the diner, you don't have any patience for preparation, but when you get your food, you do everything but lick the plate clean."

She looked up at him. "Totally different situation."

"How is that?"

"Because it's _me_ waiting. I'm not to be kept waiting, Lucas. It's unacceptable."

He smiled and looked down to his watch as he set its alarm as well.

Lorelai placed the hotel's clock back on the side table. "Are you setting that one for eight forty-five too?" she asked, still looking up at him.

He shook his head and moved the watch closer to the light to see it better. "Nope," he answered. "Nine fifteen. Hopefully, by the time it goes off, I'll have a shot at getting into the bathroom."

"No fair you get to sleep a half hour more." He shrugged. "It's not my fault your prettiness takes so little effort to achieve," she finished.

"Please don't refer to me as _pretty_. It's not exactly a compliment."

"It is in my book."

"Well, get another book."

She looked up at him with a light smile as he continued to tinker with his watch. "Luke is preeetty," she sang. "With his pretty little eyes…." He rolled them. She chuckled. "Which he gets such a kick out of rolling at everything I say," she followed. He smiled, still pre-occupied. "His pretty smile," she added. He looked up at her. "His pretty eyes again," she said softer. They held contact for a long moment before Luke's eyes fell back to his watch. He set it down but kept his eyes low.

"I…guess I'll go take a shower," he said nervously. He saw Lorelai's hand reach out and grasp the end of his shirt. He touched her wrist. "Lorelai," he said quietly as he looked at her on the bed.

She shrugged like she was doing nothing wrong. "What?" she whispered. With a gentle tug, she pulled him forward. He went. She brought her hands high on his sides and urged him down. He leaned over her and her breaths told of her desire. The more he leaned, the more she lowered her body to the bed. Her hands went to the sides of his face, and her knees rose to the sides of his stomach as she prepared to wrap her legs around his body.

His mouth went to hers, and they kissed. Both opened up and tongues touched.

There was a loud knock on the door.

Startled, Luke and Lorelai separated. He stood up, and she sat up. They looked at the door for a long moment then back at each other.

Another knock was heard.

Luke pointed. "I better go get that," he said.

Lorelai nodded and scooted back on the bed. She got in an Indian style position by the nightstand and pushed hair behind her ears as she roped in discontentment. Luke made it to the door and looked over at her to make sure she was decent in the bed. He wiped a hand over his lips then pulled the door open.

Immediately, he frowned. "What do you want?" he snapped.

Kirk came into the doorway. "Hi," he said to Luke.

"Do you know what time it is?" he bellowed.

Kirk gave him a disapproving scowl. "Too late for you to be yelling like that," he answered. He leaned in. "People are trying to sleep, Luke."

Luke gripped the door. "It's midnight, Kirk. Why are you knocking on my door at _midnight_, Kirk?"

Kirk looked around Luke and waved. "Hey, Lorelai!"

Lorelai returned his wave. "How are you, Kirk?"

"I'm fine, and you?"

Luke moved over, blocking his view of the room. "She's fine," he said harshly. "Now, what do you want?" he asked again.

He took a breath. "Sorry to disturb you at such a late hour, Luke, but.." He pulled a remote control from the pocket of the robe he wore. "...The batteries to my remote control have died, and I just wanted to know if you two were using your TV."

Luke looked as if he was about to explode. "What?!" he asked tensely.

"Well," he went on to say, "If you're not using your TV, then I was wondering if you might switch remotes with me. See, Marla tends to talk in her sleep. Very loudly. We're talking whole conversations here. And when she begins to do that, I just turn on the television and watch it until she wins whatever argument she's formulated with herself. Sometimes it's only a few minutes, but I need a distraction so it's not like I'm just sitting there listening to her conversation. I think that'd a little rude, wouldn't you?"

Luke turned to look at Lorelai in disbelief, and she only shrugged. He clenched his jaw, walked back, grabbed their remote and shoved it at Kirk's chest. "Just take it," he said.

Kirk grasped it. "Thank you, Luke. I really appreciate this." He waved his dead remote control from side to side. "Do you want to take this one so you can at least have--"

Luke slammed the door in his face.

After a few seconds, there was a light knock on the door, and Kirk's voice could be heard. "Thanks again, Luke! And sorry to bother you guys! Have a good night; see you tomorrow!"

Luke still stood by the door. His eyes went to Lorelai. They smiled slowly then started to laugh.

Luke shook his head. "There's a special place in Heaven for that guy, I swear."

"Tell me about it," Lorelai agreed.

A few chuckles sounded between them before they faded away. Luke sighed calmingly and ran his hand through his hair.

Lorelai got to her feet, and he looked up at her. She stood for a moment by the bed, then walked over. He watched her come into his space, and he tensed. Just her advance was enough to make his body want to react. Her hand went to his shoulder, then slid down his arm as their eyes searched one another's. Luke swallowed as she moved in with her lips.

"St-Stars Hollow," he said quietly. She paused and backed away enough to see his eyes. Luke swallowed again. "Remember? Because we're still in-in the r-race and--"

Her eyes went down from his and she nodded quickly. "Yeah. Of course."

He lifted his finger to her chin. "Lorelai?"

She looked up on her own. "I just…" Her eyes moved between his, "…I-I'm sorry." If the room wasn't dead silent Luke would've been unable to hear her, despite her closeness. "I don't—I really don't intend to come off as some sort of obsessed nympho." She chuckled with a quiet embarrassment and Luke smiled.

"You're not." He looked at her lips. "You're not," he repeated firmly.

"It's just not like I thought it would be, Luke. You and me—I thought it'd have more of a…a casual feel." She sighed. "Wait for Stars Hollow. No big deal, right?" she whispered nervously. She was speaking of her mindset. The one that had them on pause until the end of the race. Her voice got even softer, if that was possible. "I just don't think you and I were made for casual."

She searched his eyes, and he bit his lip and looked at her intensely. Her eyes dropped to his mouth. "W-we can still wait." She paused, and her focus remained. "I really do want to wait until we get back home. Back to…our environment. Our reality, ya know." Her eyes rose back to his. "But…just to kinda explain myself a bit…" She smiled, "I…um…I'm really losing a battle here."

He smiled widely and ran his hands down her arms. "Yeah, I see."

She shook her head, smiling more. "Go to hell," she whispered.

"Wow. That sounds a lot sexier than the last time you told me to do that."

She began to laugh, and Luke pulled her in without warning. Their lips crashed together. She moaned deeply into that kiss as she grasped his sides. Tongues began to glide, and with that, intensity went away. They melted into one another and began kissing like it was the ultimate pleasure. They both pulled away for a breath, and Luke stopped her as she got ready to move back in.

"Wait! Lorelai, wait," he said as he dropped his head back onto the wall. He and Lorelai had moved at the heated connection, and now he was against the wall near the TV with her pressed onto him.

Lorelai felt his full arousal below. "Wait?" she asked breathily. "Why are we waiting?"

He shook his head as it still rested against the wall. "Damn…I shouldn't have done that. I-I didn't mean to do that."

She moved sexily against his hard-on and breathed a sensual breath. "But you did," she whispered. "Now, by all means, finish it."

He grinded back for a moment then held her hips still. He closed his eyes to the ceiling. "There is nothing I want more right now…than to finish it," he said with a deep swallow. "But we have to be rational. You wanted to wait for a reason, Lorelai." He lowered his head cautiously, almost afraid he'd get the sudden urge to kiss her again. They met eyes. "This is my fault," he said alluding to their current position against the wall. "And I'm sorry. I really didn't…uh plan to be a tease here."

A smile broke out across Lorelai's face, and after a moment, she stepped away from him. "Don't…don't be sorry." She gestured at him. "You're just weak," she explained. Luke frowned, and she laughed softly at that. "_Like me_," she added. "We're both weak." Lorelai folded her arms. "For one another," she added quietly.

Luke stood up from the wall and looked down at his jeans that had a visible imprint. "Yeah, I'd have to agree," he said mildly.

She looked down at his pants as she bit the inside of her cheek. "I guess we can…um call this a night." She met his eyes.

He nodded. "Yeah. Goodnight, then."

Lorelai pointed at the bathroom. "Um. You're gonna go take a--"

"Yeah, I'm going to hop in the shower," he finished.

"Okay. Well, I'm gonna get in the, uh, bed back here and…get some shut eye," she finished with a half-shrug.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

They nodded at what seemed like a successful conversation.

"So…goodnight."

Luke lifted a hand in a short wave. "Night."

Lorelai looked at him momentarily before she leaned forward a little. He leaned in, hesitated, then moved the rest of the way to meet her lips. Their bodies stayed distant. The peck was brief. Lorelai moved over to her bed, tossed a glance back at him, then quickly climbed under the covers. Luke made his way into the bathroom.

The door shut.

And two heartbeats slowed to normal.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

The racers made their way to the large field.

Lorelai splayed her hand over her stomach as she walked beside Luke. "My stomach is doing somersaults over here."

He looked over at her. "Well, suck it up. You've gotta _suck_ it up," he said in encouragement. "This is the final day here!"

She dropped her hand. "Oh, believe me, I know. I don't care if I throw up at every stage of this thing today, I'm in this!"

He chuckled. Then allowed laughter to float away as he asked, "Seriously, though, you gonna be okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Just anxious." She grabbed his arm giddily. "All I can see is that trophy. It's like a million feet tall, Luke."

He faced forward again. "Yeah, you've told me. It's very motivating," he said evenly. Lorelai didn't know if he was being sarcastic or not, but still, it didn't stop her enthusiasm.

"It just doesn't get better than this! We actually have a shot to take home the zip-code hogging trophy, can you believe it?! Whoever said size doesn't matter is a moron. It definitely gets my juices flowing!" she ended suggestively.

Luke shook his head, not at all surprised at her unabashed innuendo.

All teams made it to the center of the football field. Gear was lowered to the grass. A woman came before the line of players and began issuing instructions in order to begin the day's race. Luke bent at the waist and tightened a loose shoe string as she spoke. Lorelai's hand went to his back, and she rubbed softly. When she turned attention to the right, she saw Kirk looking back at her with an open mouth. He pointed a finger at her. Luke stood back up at that very moment, unknowingly blocking off Kirk and whatever shock he was about to display.

Luke's eyes went down to Lorelai who was still looking in his direction.

"What?" he asked.

She sighed and pointed a finger past him. "Nothing. Just Kirk's about to have a coronary."

Luke looked over at him and saw as Kirk noticed the attention and started again with the accusatory pointing. Luke turned back. "What's with him?"

"You really want to know?" she asked doubtfully.

Luke's lips turned down and he shook his head in dismiss. "No. I actually really couldn't care less."

She smiled and ran her hand down his arm. They focused, again, on the lady that was speaking, and within minutes, they were all rushing off toward a scavenger hunt that had been organized. Luke and Lorelai led the pack.

"Remember, what's today's mission?" Lorelai asked as she scurried along.

Luke's pace was even more impressive. "Kick ass," he answered.

"Who's ass are we kicking?" she followed.

"Everybody who has one," he said on cue.

Lorelai grinned. "Oh ho ho, you're ready, my friend!"

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Two feet was water. Five feet was whipped cream. Eight feet was honey. Ten feet was pie filling.

Two teams lost at ten feet.

Luke and Lorelai made it to twelve.

"Are you ready?" Luke asked as he held the balloon.

Lorelai embellished a few stretches from twelve feet away. "Okay, throw it," she finally answered.

Luke had just caught the balloon filled with barbeque sauce, and he held it carefully in both hands as he prepared to toss it back to Lorelai.

"Here it comes," he announced.

She nodded, attentive. Her eyes were wide open.

He got momentum then threw the wobbly balloon in an underhanded pass. Lorelai watched it floating in the air, and she moved around trying to meet it perfectly. She shrieked as it came down in her stiffened hands. It landed in-tact, and she looked up at Luke instantly with glee. Then, it popped.

"Ugh!" she cried out. Luke jogged over to meet her. "Ugh!" she said again when he was closer. "It popped!" came her unnecessary complaint. She accompanied it with a foot stomp as sauce dripped to the ground.

Luke laughed. He reached out and grabbed a towel from one of the helpers and passed it to her. "At least we made it one more past everybody else," he said. He pointed off to where they were to go from there. Since they'd made it to the barbeque sauce, they could skip over one of the events.

She wiped sauce from her hands and parts of her clothes where it'd splattered. "Okay, let's go," she said glumly.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai laughed and grasped Luke's head. Her fingers went in his eyes.

"Lorelai!"

"Sorry," she giggled out. "Stop moving!"

"You think I'm _trying_ to move?" he screeched. "When you move, I move!"

"Well, I have to move in order to reach the apples, Luke!" She laughed again as she and Luke wobbled. Her fingers touched one of the apples in the tree. "Go to the left some," she instructed from atop his shoulders.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her calves and moved in that direction. Lorelai's left hand went to the top of his head, and she pushed off, reaching with her right hand.

"Careful," said Luke.

"I'm being careful," she said distractedly as her fingers repeatedly knocked the stubborn apple.

"No, I mean careful with your hand pushing into my head."

"Oh." She moved her hand and searched for somewhere else to press down on. She came up empty and her hand went back to the top of his head. "You're just gonna have to suck it up, Luke," she said as she reached again. "My options are kinda limited here."

He grimaced at the pressure of her hand. "Just hurry up before you push a dent in my head, please."

She strained. "_Aaaaallmost_. _Aaaaallmost_." She hit the apple and it fell to the ground with the other five. She relaxed and patted his head. "There; got it. You can set me down now."

"Thank God." He carefully knelt low to the ground so that she could hop off. Once she did, he stood slowly while kneading his neck with a grimace. "You know, you're a lot heavier than you look," he complained. "Jeez."

Lorelai collected the apples in her shirt and walked on. "No time for foreplay, Luke. We have to press on."

He stood in place still rubbing his aching neck. With a sigh, he reached down and grabbed both their bags. "I guess I'll carry _both_ of these!" he yelled after her.

"Thanks!" she yelled back. "It's the least you can do after calling me fat, Romeo."

He rolled his eyes and picked up both, lifting one onto his back.

---

The regular Home Ec teacher stood in the large cooking classroom.

Luke mixed the ingredients as Lorelai stood next to him leaning on the countertop. She'd started out sitting on top of it but was immediately reprimanded by the teacher, who obviously couldn't discern between running a classroom full of teenagers and just acting as a regulator to grown-up contestants.

Nevertheless, Lorelai hopped down quickly when told.

She, now, watched Luke work. She'd already done her part by peeling and slicing the apples, and now Luke handled the part that involved bowls and ingredients and other things that sent her mind spiraling out of control.

Lorelai waved at the instruction sheet off to the side of him. "You don't even need that thing, do you?"

He glanced at it, then went back to stirring. "Not really. I think I have it under control since I've been making apple pies three times a week for the past fifteen years."

"Yes, you have," she said happily, "And that's why I can't wait to dig into this baby."

He smiled.

Luke and Lorelai were the only ones so far in the room. Neither the Litchfield ladies nor Kirk and Marla had arrived yet. However, when Luke and Lorelai left in search of the apple tree, the other two teams were heading off in search of theirs—the fig tree and the peach tree. All teams had to make their respective pie from scratch using provided ingredients and directions. To ensure that no team rushed and/or butchered the recipe in order to save time, there was the teacher who would critique each finished pie. After obtaining a thumbs up from the teacher, the team would, then, have to sit and eat the entire pie before being allowed to move through to the next challenge.

"Hey, can you grab the dough?" he asked Lorelai.

"Sure." She went and retrieved it from the refrigerator and passed it to him.

"Thanks." Luke spread the stiff dough on the floured surface and held the rolling pin out to Lorelai. "Want to?"

She smiled. "You're so sweet, trying to include me." She shook her head with a dainty frown. "But I'm good over here." Luke smiled and proceeded to roll. "The dicing of the apples was enough," she finished.

"Yeah, I figured. It's probably for the best since the pie has to be edible," he ended with a wink in her direction.

"I concur," she said with a firm nod. She paused. "I concur and you _dissed_ me. How lame am I?"

He smiled. "As long as you help down it, then I have no complaints."

Lorelai leaned in. "_'Help'_? _'Help'_, you say?" Lorelai patted his shoulder. "Oh, Luke, you poor clueless man. You must be under the impression that you're gonna get a bite of this."

He chuckled. "Make yourself useful and get a pan or something, please…while you're planning to eat yourself into a diabetic coma."

She playfully bumped his hip with hers, moving him away from the cabinet. He stepped to the side a bit. "Okay…uh round, rectangular, triangular, or cupcake?" she asked looking at the pan choices.

Luke paused then turned dull eyes to her profile. "Cupcake."

"Okay, one cupcake pan coming u--"

"Why would I need a cupcake pan, Lorelai?!" he exclaimed.

She didn't even blink twice. Just placed her hand on her hip and looked at him. "Well, why'd you say cupcake if you didn't really need a cupcake?" she asked pointedly.

He flipped the dough and rolled some more. "I was trying to make you see how ridiculous you sounded."

"And did you succeed?" she asked smartly as she took out a round pan.

"Apparently not."

"So, what did you learn?"

He rolled his eyes. "To next time get the damn pan myself."

"Not what I was going for but still, _excellent_ lesson," she finished brightly. He smiled in reluctance, which of course caused her lips to curl as well. She pointed at him. "You have flour on your face, Chef Boyardee-licious."

"Jeez."

She chuckled. "Here, I'll get it." Her hand moved to his cheek and she wiped lightly with her thumb.

"Aha!"

Luke and Lorelai turned to where that loud exclaim had come from. Kirk stood at the door pointing at them.

Lorelai smiled. Luke grumbled and turned back to his work. "Nice of you to join us, Kirk," she said.

"I saw that w-with the thumb and the wiping!" he screeched. Marla went into the kitchen and dropped their peaches onto the counter. He went over and got her attention. "Did you see that—the—the—all the thumb action?"

"_Thumb action_?" Lorelai muttered with a frown as she still watched Kirk and his partner.

"Kirk, I need you to concentrate!" Marla snapped.

"But I just need to know if you saw--"

She silenced him with a look. He sighed and picked up the sheet with their directions.

Lorelai relaxed back against the counter and returned focus to what Luke was doing. "You know, I'm really starting to like that lady," she commented.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Both Luke and Lorelai arrived at the clue box and breathily read through what was written on the paper.

Lorelai turned eyes to him. "I think this is it."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she answered. She pointed at the sheet. " …_with a large crowd. Do your best and make them proud…. End in sight..cheers of delight_…" She scanned the paper, still breathing heavily from where she and Luke had run to the location. "…_pressure is weighing; gotta make a rush…power right throu_--" She looked up at him. "Luke, this is totally it!" She waved the sheet. "This takes us to the finish line!"

Luke moved her out of the way as the Litchfield ladies came running up to the box. Kirk and Marla were right on their tale.

"Get outta the waaaaay!" Kirk yelled while running maniacally.

"Kirk, stop running and flinging your arms around like an _idiot_ before somebody gets hurt!" Luke scolded.

Lorelai grabbed Luke by his shirt and pulled him along. "Come on, we've got to go." He rolled his eyes away from Kirk and turned to hurry along with Lorelai.

Lorelai re-read the paper as she ran. "We have to take the number three bus to Lakedale." She held the paper up to him. "That's what this means, right?" she asked.

Luke tried to focus on the words while running. It was useless. He nodded anyway, going off of what he remembered of the clue. "That's what I was thinking," he said. "Come on; this way." He took her hand and they slowed to a speedy walk.

Lorelai looked over her shoulder. Both teams were half running, half walking to catch that same bus.

"This is way too close for comfort," she said as she turned back.

Luke looked down at her. "Huh?" She pointed behind them and he looked back and saw what she meant. "Let's just hurry." He held her hand tighter and they continued along, turning the speedy walk into a light run.

---

The bus came to a stop, and residents of the Litchfield community stood back in wide-eyed confusion as backpack-wearing racers scrambled to be the first off.

Lorelai made it off first then stood to the side as she waited for Luke.

He rushed down the steps last.

She tossed her arms up when he finally came off. "What's wrong with you, Luke? Now's not the time to be chivalrous!" She pointed to the Litchfield ladies who now hurried along in first place. "Those aren't regular women, Luke. They're our competition!"

They moved around some bystanders and kept a good pace. Luke rolled his eyes at her comment. "My wallet slid under the seat. I was trying to get it," he explained.

Lorelai waved off his explanation and kept moving. She didn't doubt that his wallet had fallen and he had to search for it. But she definitely saw him reach the top of the stairs only to step aside and allow Marla and the last of the Litchfield ladies to descend.

But Luke _was_ who he was. She couldn't expect him to be like Kirk who was willing to mow down his _own_ partner to get a good time.

"You know, I think this thing may end on the city border," Luke said.

They ran some more and caught up to where Marla ran—a few feet behind Kirk.

"That would make sense," she followed. "With only Litchfield and Stars Hollow teams left, it would make sense to have it end on the line that divides the two towns." She looked at the paper again. "When we get by the electronics store, we have to catch a cab," she said, leaning into Luke. She spoke as low as she could just in case the other teams had not picked up on that clue.

The Litchfield ladies started waving their arms at the passing taxis as soon as they made it to that mark.

Everyone else followed suit.

Three taxis drove in the same direction. They got separated a bit, but all teams were dropped off one after the other. It was at the end of a road that appeared to be blocked off. The road led to the divider line between the two towns.

Luke and Lorelai were last. As soon as they exited the taxi, they heard something. Faint sounds of talking on a loud speaker/ bullhorn.

"Oh my god, this is it!" Lorelai yelled in excitement.

Luke paid the cabbie and turned to the road ahead. The street was a long one that curved half a mile ahead. Kirk and Marla were twenty-five yards away, and the Litchfield ladies were a little more than thirty. Both Luke and Lorelai started up the road.

One minute into their run, it seemed they were already slowing.

"You back there?" Luke asked, running slower than he was capable of running in order to keep pace with Lorelai.

"I'm back here," she answered with pants.

"You with me?" he followed.

She waved a hand. "Yeah, sure."

"Little bit faster, Lorelai, come on."

"Luke the fact…that I'm still moving right now…is a miracle…within itself. Don't be greedy." She breathed heavier before slowing to a stop. "Damn, this bag is heavy."

Luke turned. "What are you doing?" He walked back to her, controlling his own breaths. "I know it's hard, but we have to go." He tugged on her elbow a little. "Come on."

She bent low and rested on her knees. "This sucks. I've…already…showed how much…I suck at this running thing."

Luke went to her rear and slid her backpack off. He set to the ground and pulled the straps to his own backpack tighter. "Run. Go," he said as he leaned down for a moment.

She turned. "What?"

He pointed up the road. "Run," he repeated. "Go on ahead. I'll catch up."

She breathed for a moment as she looked down at him. "You sure?"

He stood up and stretched his arms back and forth. "I promise you I'll catch up," he said as he steadied his breath. He gestured up ahead. "Hurry up. Just run."

She looked into his eyes for long seconds before finally backing away. "You've got like three minutes, Luke. Three minutes, and I'm coming back for you," she promised. Luke nodded fast just to get her moving. Lorelai turned around, walked a few steps in preparation, then started to jog.

Luke watched her for a moment. She moved better and had a much more promising pace. He took a deep breath and leaned low. He wrapped a hand tightly around Lorelai's backpack.

"Well, Butch…I guess I summon thee." He chuckled at himself then stood up with the bag in his hand. He looked at the road ahead, and shook his head. "This should be fun," he mumbled. Lorelai was about five yards from Marla now. She kept looking back but thankfully, continued to run.

He hiked the bag under his arm with a grunt and rubbed a hand over his hat. "Here goes nothin'."

He started up the road.

---

Lorelai slowed to a walk and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh god," she whispered. "This hurts. Really really hurts," she added. "Doesn't feel good at all why do people do this voluntarily oh my god this is torture," she continued on one long exhale.

Kirk and Marla were at least two hundred yards behind her now. She'd passed the Litchfield ladies two-hundred and fifty yards ago.

She looked back again and saw Luke about twenty yards away. He'd been running at the same pace since he started.

She turned back, took a heavy breath, and started running again. She rounded the large, wide bend in the road, and she finally saw what she'd only been hearing up until then. The commotion and noises were getting louder and louder as she made her way up the road. Moments after the crowd became visible to her, the cheering got insane. They'd spotted the first of the racers.

Lorelai could hear her name being screamed down to her. Stars Hollow was definitely in attendance.

She breathed heavily and slowed to another walk. There was a straight shot which led to the crowd a quarter of a mile away. The Litchfield/ Stars Hollow crowd stood on either side of the road behind parked buses, which she determined had carted the rambunctious lot of them to the location. She could vaguely make out yellow tape that represented the finish line.

Before the tape—halfway up the road—there were two tables set up. They were spaced apart and had someone standing behind each one. Different items sat on each table, but it was unclear what they were.

"This should be interesting," Lorelai mumbled.

She turned around, but Luke wasn't there. She walked some more- only a few paces- then turned back again. He still hadn't appeared around the corner. She stopped, wiped dampness from her brow and looked to the crowd that still screamed their lungs out.

She turned, again, to look. When she still didn't see him, she started jogging back.

She made it only a short distance before he was coming around the bend running, still, at the pace that he had managed to maintain. She stopped abruptly and smiled.

Luke saw her standing there and waved her onward. She shook her head and used the time to catch her breath as he made it up to her. He started walking once he made it next to her. "Why'd you stop?" he asked, out of breath. The chest and sleeves of his blue and white t-shirt were damp. A few drops of sweat ran down under his hat and he lifted his arm and wiped them away.

"Waiting for you," she said simply. She reached for her bag.

He shook his head. "Nah, I've got it. I've already carried it this far."

She held her hands up. "If you insist." She pointed on ahead. "Come on. We've got to hurry; it doesn't look like they're gonna make crossing the line easy. See those tables?"

Luke looked. "Oh boy."

"Tell me about it. We've gotta motor, hon."

---

"Armenia. It's Armenia."

Luke wrote Armenia on the paper. "Done." He flipped it around so the woman could see it.

"All are correct except this one," she said with a point toward the one they'd just guessed.

Lorelai frowned. "A7," she said. "Country starting with 'A' with seven letters. What other country is there?" She looked at Luke, and he shrugged. Lorelai's hands went to her head in frustration. "Damn, we should have just taken the penalty," she whispered in regret.

Luke looked back at the two other teams who'd opted to take the twenty minute penalty instead of completing the eleven country challenge.

Suddenly, his head snapped back around.

"Austria," he said with a finger snap. Lorelai's eyes went wide in recollection. "Is it Austria?" he asked the lady.

She smiled. "That is correct," she said.

"Yes!" They slapped hands and moved along only two minutes before Kirk and Marla's time penalty ran out.

They hurried up to the second table. Lorelai's eyes went in the distance where the crowd was still cheering. She stared longingly. "Man, this is cruel," she muttered. "So close and yet so far." She turned back to find Luke choosing between neatly designed cards that were lying on the table. There were three piles. In front of one stack read 'Juice'. In front of another read 'Spice'. And in front of the last read 'Dairy'.

"What are we doing?"

He looked over his shoulder at her with a frown. "Weren't you listening?"

She sighed in exasperation. "Well, of course I was," she lied. "This is a pop quiz _for you._ And right now you're failing." She snapped her fingers repeatedly. "Answer quicker, answer quicker."

He rolled his eyes at her and turned back. "I had to pick one card from each of these categories. Whatever the card says, they're going to mix it in a big glass and make us drink it."

"Again?!" she complained. "Oh my god! What—do these people have some sort of sick oral fixation or something?!"

It definitely had not slipped her mind of what happened on the last time she had to mix and drink.

"This will be better. See, look at the categories. Not too bad, right?"

She shrugged. "I guess not."

Their cards were revealed and read aloud by the man standing there. "Tomato juice…paprika…milk."

Lorelai clasped her hands with a great smile. "Oh yummy! You know, I was actually planning to have that very same thing as an after dinner snack tonight!" Luke and Marla came up to the table. Lorelai noticed them and dropped the charade. "Okay, let's get this show on the road."

They poured all contents in a large glass and stirred it. A red line was in the middle of the glass meaning the first person had to drink it to that line then pass the glass over to his/her partner.

Kirk and Marla wordlessly made their selection and just nodded at hearing, "grapefruit juice…basil…yogurt."

Luke took the glass and drank first. He finished a good bit, looked at the glass, drank some more, then waited for it to settle before drinking a little bit more. His eyes went to Marla who was doing the same measuring technique. He passed the glass to Lorelai.

"It's not bad," he replied.

She smiled and nodded at what she knew was a lie. "Gonna make it when you get home?"

His eyes darted to the glass. She still had to drink it, and he definitely didn't want to discourage her. "Maybe I will," he said with a brow lift.

She laughed. "Yeah right." She brought the glass up and drank until half of it was gone.

Luke looked at Kirk who had the glass and was drinking slow, trying to keep it down, but he wasn't stopping. He looked back at Lorelai. "Kirk's hot on your tail," he said without panicking. She gagged and looked about ready to throw it back up in the glass. Luke held his breath. He released it when she began to drink again.

Kirk's glass slammed onto the table. Lorelai's went down a second later, and they both looked at the man that stood there.

He cleared them both.

The crowd's cheering shot to the max as the contestants looked to be heading that way.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on," Lorelai said over and over. Kirk got his bag and urged Marla to get hers. Luke still wore his bag, and he picked Lorelai's up. She took it from him. "Got it," she said as she slipped it in place while beginning a jog.

Kirk slid between both of them and ran.

He ran fast.

He ran while forgetting he had a partner that also had to cross the finish line ahead of all other teams before he could be declared winner.

Luke and Lorelai jogged along, several paces behind him.

"Where is Marla?" Lorelai asked Luke confusedly as she watched Kirk run like he was being chased.

Luke answered without having to look back. "Behind us."

She looked over at him, her movement steady. "Does _Kirk_ know that?"

Luke reached down and took her hand in his. They kept pace. "I don't think Kirk knows much of anything."

Kirk flew through the tape with his hands high above his head. "Yeah! Yeah! _Yeah, babyyyy_!"

Luke and Lorelai followed a few seconds later. They slowed to a walk, let each other's hand go, and hugged one another in tired celebration. As they parted, familiar faces began to crowd around them.

"Mom, Mom! Over here, Mom!"

Lorelai searched the crowd frantically. "Rory!" she yelled. "I hear you, but I don't see you!"

Rory squeezed past some people and appeared at her mom's side. "Right here," she said with a large smile.

They threw their arms around one another. "Oh my god." Lorelai held her so tight. "Kid. I missed you so much. Do you have any clue _at all_ how much I missed you?" She squeezed tighter, her eyes closed.

Rory laughed and hugged her just as tightly. "Well, if my inability to breathe is any indication, I'd say 'quite a bit'."

Lorelai pulled away and looked her over. "Have you grown? Oh my god, I think you've grown."

Rory grinned. "I haven't grown, Mom."

"Luke," Lorelai called over her shoulder. He was talking to a few of the townspeople but turned at hearing his name.

"Yeah?"

Lorelai still held Rory by the shoulders. "Hasn't Rory grown? Doesn't she look a few inches taller and about a billion times smarter?"

He turned around fully. "I didn't think it was possible for her to get any smarter? She already makes the rest of us look like idiots." He smiled. "How ya doin', Rory?" Rory moved from Lorelai's grasp and tentatively went to hug Luke, which he wasn't expecting. "Oh," he said, wrapping his arms around her. He lifted his brows at Lorelai over Rory's shoulder. She chuckled.

"I'm good, Luke. Thanks," she finally answered. She pointed a finger at Lorelai. "Thanks for bringing my mom back safe and sound. I appreciate it."

He smiled. "Anytime."

She lightly punched him. "And you two won! Congratulations." His smile widened. She leaned in a little. "I really hope you aren't looking forward to keeping the trophy or anything because--"

Luke cut her off. "Oh, I already know that I'm gonna have to forfeit all rights. That goes without saying."

Rory nodded with relief and patted Luke's arm.

Lorelai peeked her head in. "What are you guys talking about?"

Rory turned to face her. "Just about how proud I am of my mommy," she said playfully pinching her cheeks. "Who finished the big _wace_?" she asked. "Who finished that big, bad, intimidating _wace_?" she asked in a baby voice.

Lorelai moved side-to-side like a kid with a larger than life smile. "I did," she answered in character.

They hugged and laughed. Luke rolled his eyes away, an unyielding smile on his lips.

"Why isn't anyone hugging and congratulating me?! I finished first! Why is everybody patting Luke and Lorelai on the back?!"

Heads turned to Kirk, then turned away in the next moment. Talking continued.

Lorelai hugged Babette as she came up.

A guy bumped into them then hurried away as he looked over his shoulder. Luke turned to say something to him. That was until he saw what he was running from. He rolled his eyes as Kirk ran by next.

"Hey, hey! You! You there…you hug me! You hug me _right now_!"

"This town gets loonier every time I turn around," Luke muttered.

"Can the racing participants please make their way to the front please?" Taylor's voice shouted over the bullhorn. "All racing participants please meet near the busing area for pictures."

Luke sighed and looked around at all the insanity. He turned back to face Lorelai and saw just as she broke away from the group that surrounded her and came over to him. She met his eyes and smiled until she was near enough for him to hear her.

"Hey you. Ready to pose for the camera?" she asked.

He gestured to where they were to head. "As I'll ever be. Lead the way."

She turned, and Luke's hands went to her shoulders. He kneaded them gently as they moved through the crowd.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"My god. Luke."

Lorelai whispered words in dim lighting. Her hands moved to the ends of the pillow beneath her head, and she made fists.

Luke placed a delicate kiss on her stomach.

His body slid, and Lorelai squirmed.

He smiled. "Relax."

Her breaths were heavy. She swallowed. "What?" she barely said.

His tongue moved from inside of her belly button to around it. He dipped it in and out as if there was a flavor he was trying to get every drop of. He lifted his eyes to look up at her. "I said relax." Her stomach rose and fell at a rapid pace.

Her eyes were closed tight. "I'm…relaxed. T-totally relaxed."

He kissed. He kissed his way down and left each area of her lower stomach tingling with every touch of his lips. "You're sure?" he asked. He went back to kissing and looked up at her as he asked the question. Her stiffened nipples proved to be an enjoyable en route attraction.

Lorelai nodded at his question, and her hands moved about the pillow.

His shoulders smoothly went beneath her parted thighs. "You're calm? Able to breathe?" Again, she nodded. She nodded, providing lies to the questions barely being processed.

Luke's breath hit wetness. Warm breath hit heat and caused shivers. His finger touched the pink, enlarged part of her, and she whimpered. "Calm and able to breathe..." he repeated. His thumb ran down her center like it was the finest and most delicate of areas. "Gotta do something about that," he finished. His voice ended low. Ended deep. And that's where he took his tongue.

He entertained no shyness as he tasted her.

His tongue was firm.

And _filled_ with talent.

Lorelai went from moans to pants, back to moans. His use of suction sent her to the verbal. She started off with soft, sensual words. Then her moans got deep and her words turned to soft curses with long syllables. Luke continued on without break. He proved to be relentless with the oral.

Lorelai felt the beginning of the big 'O', and she moved a hand to Luke's hair. Her hand ran through.

"_Ooohhh my goddd, just like that_…" Luke's head winded and moved smoothly between her thighs. He exalted himself fully in anticipation of her happy ending. Lorelai sat up a little and leaned on her elbow. She went flat against the mattress once more before her elbow was supporting her again. She felt she could climb up the walls. Her body felt pleasure that seemed unnatural. She didn't know if she was coming or going….if the feeling was real or imagined….if she was liquid or solid. Her mind was all over the place and all she could think was…

"Please. don't. stop."

She moved from her elbow to her hand. She rested her weight on her hand while the other hand remained on the back of Luke's head. Her head was back, and she faced the ceiling. Her bottom lip was being mutilated as she held it between her teeth, and she moaned. Moaned without pause like she was going for a record.

Her body moved sensually with Luke's mouth. He continually gave her what was driving her crazy, and she slowly winded into that feeling.

He penetrated her with a finger and kept his mouth firmly on her clit. She held his head more securely.

"Luke. So good. Feels…this feels so…"

She rode the building orgasm. Dedicated herself to it, and was there to feel it grow. And grow, it did.

Her climax knocked her to her back again.

She gripped the headboard, the pillows, the sheets, her hair, her breasts, and everything else as electrical currents raked and ravished her body.

Luke sucked until she pulled away. He moved back in and wrapped his lips around her again. She whispered "wait" and he let her go and went back up her body, kissing her thigh and stomach, and sucking her breast along the way.

"We have to go," he whispered before kissing her deeply one brief time. "Put your clothes back on."

She grasped his head and pulled his lips back onto hers. The kiss was deep and slow, passionate and wet.

It lasted for twenty seconds. No less, maybe more. She pulled away with sexy, long pants as she started to move her weak body from beneath his.

"Okay. One second though."

Luke was pushed on his back, and Lorelai leaned over him. "Lorelai." She gave him a silencing tongue as her hand went to the jeans of his pants. They parted breathily. "We really have to--" His head lifted a bit and he watched Lorelai stroke him then cover the tip of his shaft with her mouth. "Ah, jeez." His eyes closed, then opened. His breathing picked up and stayed up as he now watched her mouth go down. Straight down. She came back up only to go down more. She squeezed the head with tightly drawn lips and flicked her tongue, giving him a visual show with a seductive wink. "Oh…Lorelai… they're waiting out—outside in the…in the um…place…and….god mmm Lorelai, _damn_."

Her tongue ran slowly up the side of his erection. Then, she spoke quiet words. "Just enjoy it, Luke. I am." And again with the tongue. Luke's jaw fell open as he watched. Her hand ran underneath his shirt and up his hard stomach. She moaned and returned both hands to her task.

Luke dropped his head back and did as told for almost two minutes.

Then, he was stopping her and urging her up his body.

Lorelai had full plans to take him to that grand finale and actually looked surprised as she got eye to eye with him. She moved to straddle his waist, and he gestured between them. "Do you mind?" he asked.

She smiled. "Do I mind sex with you?"

He nodded a little, his eyes wide and so considerate.

She shook her head, the smile growing on her face. She leaned down and spoke softly against his lips. "No way. I'll never mind, Sweetheart." They parted lips at the same moment, and a passionate kiss followed. Luke reached between them, and Lorelai lifted her lower body. He put himself at her entrance, and she sank down slowly. His hands went to her hips. The kiss never broke, and the heat only increased.

They finally separated and took heavy breaths as they moved together.

Their eyes locked.

Luke's mouth opened and closed, and Lorelai resisted the urge to kiss him senseless.

"I…I…" Lorelai moved up and down over him, her breathing erratic, as she watched his lips for following words. "I-I really love…being inside you," he whispered.

She closed her eyes briefly, getting lost in feeling. "And I really love…having you…inside me." She brought in her lips and closed her eyes tight as she climaxed. Moans escaped her sealed mouth. She still moved. Slower at the height of that feeling, then she returned to normal speed as she looked back at him with a smile. "And…not just because of...that," she added.

He smiled. Looked between their bodies at their connection.

They locked eyes again.

"We have to go," he whispered.

"I know."

He paused as they looked at one another. "One…one more time for you…then we have to go."

She smiled. "If you i-insist."

Lorelai leaned down and captured his lips as Luke winded his pelvis in search of her magic button.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Twenty-five minutes later, Lorelai and Luke were out of Lorelai's house. Out of her bedroom. And in the middle of the town square with the rest of the town.

Everyone was there. The buses had driven everyone back, and upon arriving in the small town, Luke had gone up to his apartment to shower and change while Lorelai remained with friends outside. When finished, they both hopped in his truck so she wouldn't have to walk home with her luggage. She planned to get home and shower too. The house was empty since Rory was busy in the square. And unfortunately, there were no friends outside to entertain Luke.

Their absence had totaled about forty-five minutes. But now, they were back and in the public eye.

They were sitting on a bench in the square and had been for an hour.

"When do you think we'll be able to go home?"

Lorelai smiled at Luke's question. The time was now nine p.m, and both were in the midst of Stars Hollow mayhem. The race had ended four hours ago. There was, now, hometown celebration going on in the town square in their honor.

"Let's just say that I hope you don't have anything planned before the diner opens tomorrow morning," she answered.

He frowned. "You mean, _sleep_?"

She nodded and patted his thigh. "Exactly."

Luke took a heavy breath and rolled his eyes at everyone that stood around. "I'm going home in thirty minutes. I don't give a damn when everybody else leaves."

Gypsy walked near their bench which was positioned off to the side. "Ya know, Lorelai, if you're not even willing to get up and enjoy this ridiculous scene, then there's no reason for me to pretend to." Lorelai smiled. "I'm not going to even waste my breath with Luke, but as for you, what's it gonna be? You gonna sit here and ignore the rest of us all night?"

Lorelai's hand went absentmindedly to the knee-high statue that sat at her side. "Give me a minute, Gypsy. I'll be right over."

"Okay." She started to walk away but stopped. "Don't make me come back over here because you know I'll do it!" she said seriously.

Lorelai chuckled. "I'll take that into consideration," she said simply.

"And don't forget about Patty's punch," she said pointing. "I haven't seen you take a sip all night, and watching you get drunk and make an idiot out of yourself is the only reason I see this party as being worthy of my time."

"Well…uh Gypsy…" she began, slightly thrown, "Give me that minute we discussed a second ago, and I'll hop on stage and see about doing a very respectable Shane MacGowan impression for you. Vomit and all, how about that?" Gypsy nodded gratefully. Lorelai went on. "Just make sure you sit in the front row so you can be the first to experience the fruits of my labor."

Gypsy rolled her eyes. "Oh brother." She turned and spoke over her shoulder. "Just hurry. I'm getting restless."

Lorelai turned to Luke with a smirk. "You want to go join me as the life of the party?"

"No, I think you can handle that role a whole lot better by yourself," he answered tiredly.

She smiled and leaned back onto his arm that he had stretched along the bench behind her. He looked over at her and smiled at her coquettish grin. He shook his head. "You and that smile..." His voice faded and a smile of his own formed. Lorelai only grinned more.

She turned to him a bit. "So…we're uh…here," she said gesturing around them.

His brows lifted. "I guess we are," he responded hazily.

"Here…as in..._Stars Hollow_," she clarified.

He nodded a little. Smiled a little. "Yeah. I guess we are," he said again, this time with understanding.

She looked at him momentarily. Stared at him and he stared back at her. Her eyes went to scan his features as she continued, "Back in our normal lives. Back to you being behind the counter and me being in front of it." He looked down and nodded thoughtfully. "Back to the place we left as friends." He lifted his head to her. She smiled shyly. "Seven years of friendship in this place, Luke."

He brought his lip in. "Yeah. Seven years. That's a long time."

"More than most people could ever hope for." He nodded. They gazed. There was a long pause in her words before she went on. "I don't have any regrets," she said instantly. She shook her head. "None." She paused again and waited for some kind of a reaction from him, some sort of acknowledgement. She got a smile that definitely didn't take long to form, and with that, she seemed to relax and continued. "And we're back in Stars Hollow now, and this is what I wanted. I wanted to know if I'd feel differently… if I'd think differently." She shrugged. "I don't."

He moved a bit closer to her and leaned on his knees while looking back at her on the bench. "We've only been back for a few hours. We haven't even gotten back in the diner yet," he pointed out with amusement.

She smiled widely at his tone, which she could definitely sense heading in a good direction. "I don't care," she said. She moved her hands. "Well, I _do_ care, but…what I mean is I seriously doubt it's going to change how I'm feeling about this."

"How you're feeling about this?" he parroted, his blue eyes smiling as he pulled back on the physical one.

She nodded then gestured at him. "I need for you to say things now."

He chuckled and sat up slowly, his hands rubbing his thighs. "I uh…I think you summed it up pretty well, actually."

"Really?" she asked hopefully. She followed his eyes as he got upright. "Because you're not saying much, and the last think I'd want is to be alo--"

"You're not," he interrupted fast. "You're most certainly not alone. You may as well be standing in the middle of Times Square on New Year's Eve for how much company you have."

Her hand went to her heart. "Thank God," she whispered.

They both laughed.

"You couldn't have possibly thought that I would have turned you down, Lorelai."

"Well, hey…you never know, you know. When you're out there on a limb, anything can happen." She hit his arm. "And anyway, we've been sitting here for an hour talking; why didn't you shuffle to the end of the branch?" she asked accusingly.

He rolled his eyes lazily. "Hey, I was ready to shuffle the first night in that hotel. You wanted to hug the tree, remember?"

She waved away that memory. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She pointed a rigid finger at him. "You just make sure you plan a kick-ass first date for the two of us to make up for the all the anxiety you caused."

He pointed to himself. "That _I_ caused?"

"Yes, _you_. Do you really think that _I'm_ gonna accept blame?" She scoffed.

"Jeez." Luke looked away in defeat and Lorelai took a moment to mock him with laughter. He turned back to her when he felt her hand on his shoulder. The silly interaction disappeared under the eye contact they held. She smiled and allowed her hand to slide down his arm until her fingers came together in her own lap.

"So..um.." She shrugged. "Can a girl get a kiss or…do I have to…check us into a hotel room first?" she ended with a smile.

He rolled his eyes at her comment then gestured. "If we kiss here, everyone will see," he stated needlessly.

She shrugged again. "Well, of course they will. But they have to find out some time, right?" She paused. "Unless you don't want them to…"

He looked at her dully. "Why wouldn't I want them to?" he asked, annoyed. "I'm just saying that I don't want everyone in our business."

"A kiss is not putting them in our business."

"It's putting them close enough to it."

"Luke, they're going to see us kiss anyway," she pointed out.

"How?"

She sighed tiredly. "When I _leave_ the diner, when I _enter_ the diner, if we're walking through town together then part ways, when I say something so darn cute, and you want to reward the cuteness, or if we're just together and, _hello_," She gestured wildly with her hands, "suddenly _realize_ we're in a relationship and want to express that without having to _convince_ the other person!"

Luke's eyes patrolled the crowd, and he saw a few people look over at Lorelai's outburst. "Nice volume you have there. But I'm gonna need you to speak a _little bit_ louder. I don't think they heard you near Al's Pancake World."

She calmed down and pressed a hand to her hair. "I'm not asking you to have sex with me in the gazebo, Luke." He met her eyes again at her soft tone. "I just want to…kiss my guy." He continued to look at her without saying anything, and Lorelai took the moment to add, "I mean would you rather they found out about us by me walking down from your apartment in just this?" she finished as she lightly tugged on the flannel he now wore.

He looked down at where she tugged then rolled his eyes away. "God, no," he replied with dread.

She turned, sat back, then started to idly drag her finger along the top of her trophy again. "Well, I'd say this was a pretty good alternative." She shrugged. "But it's up to you. I'll drop it."

He paused and studied her. "Yeah, sure you will," he said with doubt. "Then I guess you'll just give me the cold shoulder for the rest of the night," he ended.

She looked at him and smiled softly. "No, I'll be fine. _We'll_ be fine," she said in sincerity. His hand sat on the seat in between them and she looked at the crowd before gently laying hers over it. Her eyes went back to him. "Guess I better go get the party started. Try not to leave without telling me 'bye', okay?"

Luke swallowed. "Uh, yeah sure," he said.

She squeezed his hand. "Watch the trophy and make sure no one breathes on it or anything. You're in charge." She uncrossed her legs to stand and got ready to take her hand from Luke's. But in the next second, she was turning back to face him. He'd grasped her wrist. She slid back on the seat while looking at him in bewilderment. "What are you doi--"

"Just…" He scooted closer to her. His hand went from her wrist to her arm and lingered there with a subtle caress. She felt goose bumps form. Though his touch was gentle, his tone showed his irritability when he continued on. "Just..be quiet and let's get this over with." Lorelai's eyes went bright and her lips turned up as Luke's hand grazed her cheek.

"You don't have to, you know," she said quietly as she stared into eyes that looked back into hers.

A few heads turned. There were double takes. Then fast, blind taps on any arm or shoulder that was near.

Luke watched his thumb run below her bottom lip. "Yeah, I do," he whispered back.

Lorelai leaned in toward him, and his hand returned to her cheek. He closed the distance. Their lips came together. Softly, gently, and with a familiarity that launched them into the next level within seconds.

Eyes widened. Lots and _lots_ of eyes widened.

Lorelai's head tilted to her right, and Luke's tilted to his. Entwined and restless tongues kept jaw movement steady between the two of them. They broke. Turned to their lefts and moved back in with closed eyes. Luke gently held her face. Lorelai's hands were on his chest and side.

Over a hundred people were there in celebration. Forty of them were now in full gasp mode. Whispering and pointing made the number grow like wildfire.

Longer seconds were spent kissing. It slowed and became less deep.

The tip of Luke's tongue touched hers. They kissed lips, then leaned foreheads together. Breaths passed between them. Luke's head swam. Lorelai felt dizzy beyond reason. Their heartbeats came through their ears and sounded like a bass drum in an amphitheatre. They heard nothing else. Felt nothing but the lasting effects of that deep, passionate connection.

As heartbeats slowed, they remained close. The sound of the bass drum faded away, and what they heard made each of them open their eyes in both confusion and caution. What they heard was…nothing. There had been music playing. They were sure of that much. That music had stopped.

As they slowly came apart, they kept eyes on one another and avoided looking at anything else.

"You think they're looking at us?" Lorelai whispered to Luke.

"Unless an unexpected eclipse is going on, I'd go with 'yeah'."

"Oh boy."

"Stupid, nosy town."

They sat up fully and attention went to the crowd. Gawking eyes looked back at them. Lorelai smiled nervously and waved. "Uh…hi?"

With that, sudden laughter, talking, and shrieks sounded throughout the crowd causing Lorelai to jump in surprise. Her eyes flitted from face to face as people closed in on them.

Luke stood up quickly and held his arms out, stopping everybody in their tracks. "Hold it!" Talking died down but didn't stop. Luke looked around at everyone who now stood about two feet away. "Everybody back away from here and for god's sake, _turn the damn music back on_!" he shouted.

Talking got louder, and a few people listened to Luke by turning away.

"Okay, people…" Taylor appeared on stage, and his voice came over the bullhorn, "Everybody back to the party. Back to the party," he repeated with a wave. Music crackled on and was slowly taken back to its previous volume. Taylor waved some more and spoke over it. "Rest assured everyone! You will _all_ have an opportunity to weigh in on this little turn of events. This issue will be discussed _in depth_…" he stressed with eyes on Luke, "..at this week's meeting. But for now, back to the excitement! And while I have your attention, please be sure to use the recycling bins for your soda cans and cups. They're there for a reason! I'm noticing more and more recyclable items piling up in the trashcans and--" Music cranked up louder and drowned out Taylor's diatribe.

Luke took a heavy breath and turned deadly eyes away from Taylor and back to the crowd that had begun to disperse more.

Babette plowed her way through the people still standing around and outdid all of the questions, comments, and congratulatory squeals being directed to the happy couple. "Wow! What a kiss! That knocked _my_ socks off!" she shared loudly. "I know yours has to be in outer space somewhere," she added with an eager point between the two of them.

Luke's hands finally dropped and he took a heavy breath. "Babette," he began. His wind got knocked out of him as she scampered over and ran into him with a hug that had the potential of a tackle.

"Oh, Luke; I didn't know you had it in ya!"

Luke looked back at Lorelai and found her laughing at the short lady wrapped around his midsection. He turned back and rolled his eyes down to her. "Babette, I appreciate the enthusiasm," he said, finally bringing his arms from his sides and placing them on her shoulders, "But you're taking away my flow of oxygen here."

She backed away and playfully punched his stomach.

Lorelai stood and walked past Luke. They exchanged a look. One that displayed common thoughts on the weird little town in which they resided. Lorelai smiled at that instant show of harmony. Luke shook his head and looked down, grateful that he did not stand alone.

Her arm blindly reached for Babette's shoulder before she broke contact with Luke and completed her intended move. Her arm went around her shoulders, and she lined her hip with the shorter lady's side. "Babette," she began with a smile, "What do you say about livening this party up with me?"

Babette looked up at her with eyes that said she'd finally seen it all. "I'd say you two did a pretty good job of handling that yourselves!"

Lorelai smirked and tossed eyes to Luke over her shoulder. "I'll be by the punch bowl if you need me."

He nodded and waved. With backward steps, he reclaimed his seat on the bench.

As Lorelai walked into the crowd that had started back partying the night away, Rory emerged. Her hands were in her back pockets and she wore a look of composure. Lorelai paused with her arm still resting around Babette. Her wide eyes watched Rory approach. How could she have forgotten to talk to her kid before putting on a show for the whole town? Rory had not even known that lines had been crossed between her and Luke. Lorelai was mortified as she realized that her only child—_her best friend_—had found out about her relationship in the same manner as many people whose names she didn't readily know.

She made it to her, and Lorelai's mouth opened, her breath now completely on suspension. "I-I uh, god, Rory I swear--"

"Boy, do _we_ have some talking to do," she interrupted calmly. Lorelai started to stutter through words once again to try to make her understand how unintentional her actions were. Rory's lips spread and she cut her off warmly. "Relax, Mom. This isn't the most shocking thing ever. I could sense that something had shifted between you two."

"Really?"

She shrugged. "Come on. You guys have been under each other since you crossed the finish line. And this is _after_ spending every second of the day together for a full week. Plus, you had to room together, so I kinda figured…" Her voice faded away knowingly. Lorelai's lips turned down, as if hurt by the implication. Rory smiled. "And seriously, _how long does it take_ to drop off a backpack and hop in the shower?" she finished bluntly.

Lorelai's mouth dropped open, and that caused Rory's lips to spread even more.

"Oh my god."

"I'm just saying, Mom."

Lorelai shook her head. Her kid was definitely growing up. She took a few moments and stomped away thoughts as she got her mind to re-focus. "So, you're not mad?" she asked with caution.

Rory shook her head and answered honestly. "Not mad. _Got a lot of questions_." Lorelai smiled. "But not mad."

"So, we can talk later—you and me?"

"Bet on it."

Lorelai finally took a breath of relief. She hugged Rory to her, then moved back over toward Babette. Her other arm reclaimed its previous position.

"You two are okay, aren't you?" Babette asked Lorelai worriedly. She didn't wait for an answer. She leaned up and looked over at Rory. "You're okay about all this, right, Suga?"

Rory smiled. "I'm fine, Babette."

"Whoo, that's a relief. My blood pressure was about to skyrocket."

Lorelai laughed. She squeezed both their shoulders. "Why don't we ladies go show this town how to party it up like a Hilton, huh?"

"You mean gettin' drunk and loose?" asked Rory.

Lorelai nodded with certainty. "Precisely, doll. Now, let's go embarrass our mothers."

"Uh…my mother is _you_…and I doubt you're gonna let me drink," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai's attention went from her and over to Babette as she chimed in with, "and um..my mother is a little…dead."

Lorelai sighed at all the negativity. "Well, both you guys just band together with me and help me to embarrass _my_ mother then, damn it!"

They tossed fists in the air with laughter. "Yeah!" they both shouted.

Lorelai leaned into Rory. "And you're right about the drinking thing. You can do your embarrassment with Gingerale, baby."

"Sounds good to me. On with the embarrassment!" she followed.

"On with the embarrassment!" they yelled in support.

They started movement and disappeared into the crowd.

Luke shook his head as he watched them from his seat. When they were no longer in sight, he sank onto the bench and relaxed at the scene in front of him. People had finally gone back to their own business. They laughed, danced, and gestured wildly as they goofed with friends and neighbors. This was the kind of stuff he liked to see. People he'd known and been around for years and in some cases, decades so carefree. All crowded together. Dancing together. If forced in the middle, Luke would turn every last one of their day sour with his crankiness. But watching them—the people of his town—having fun like they were…was definitely something he had no problems with.

His head turned right when he heard fuss. One that snatched him from a serenity that he'd never in a million years admit to have immersed himself in.

What he saw was Kirk.

Kirk was beside himself and waving his arms like he was about to take flight. It was all directed at Andrew, whose opposing demeanor gave him the appearance of someone on the outside of the conversation.

Kirk's words were heard by anyone who wanted to listen.

"I'm telling you, I called it! _I called it_!" he said again louder. "_I_ spotted the hand holding. _I_ saw the cheek touching. _Me, me, me_!"

"_Marsha, Marsha, Marsha_," mocked someone in the crowd. Everyone laughed.

"Who said that? Who said it?! Kirk peered over people. "Speak up!"

Luke looked away and back at the town.

His town.

A weird little storybook town that spawned friendships and lasting trusts.

This was the town that nurtured a seven year friendship and created a romance. A romance that took both of its partakers by storm. Took them to a place of speedy heartbeats, passionate kisses, and growing feelings that neither had experienced to such a magnitude.

This was a town of heart. Friendships, love, and _plenty of heart_.

Luke listened to the noise and the pandemonium. His focus went to Taylor who fought to hold onto his bullhorn as Patty now tried to yank away. She never let him hold on to it for too long. He smirked, and his eyes fell to the trophy beside him. Four residents had entered a race of sixteen and had all made it to that final shebang. He looked at a trophy that represented victory and brought pride and prestige to Stars Hollow.

Continuing noises from Kirk invaded his hearing, along with childlike laughter from the majority of the crowd. He saw Kirk still looking for his ridiculer and saw just as Patty pulled the bullhorn free from a peeved Taylor. He scampered around her and tried to get it back as she kept it out of reach.

Luke sighed. "Bunch of loons," he muttered. "Stupid loony town."

He rolled his eyes to the sky, lifted a casual hand to his mouth, and rubbed the smile from his lips.

**-The End-**

That's all she wrote.

I really, really, really hope you all enjoyed reading that. Because I really, really, really enjoyed writing it. And I'm so glad that I chose to put this idea down. But this is me talking, and not you guys. Hit the review button and let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[Also, on a side-note, the Support Stacie auction is coming back 'round. And all you LL fanatics can bid to have your favorite author, your second favorite author, or just someone who you think would do an okay job write any fic of your choosing. I say LL fanatics because that's what _I'm_ about lol, but all kinds of fandoms are included. Go to supportstacie[dot]net and check it out. Some pretty great authors are signing up, so raid those piggy banks and bid away. Just don't…like _**rob**_ any banks. You kinda want to be around to see the fic get written. Hehe. It's going to be from April 3 to April 6. I'll be signing up sooner or later. I'm lazy like that. Anyway, good luck to all who bids!!!]


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